- Oct 17, 2011
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‘My church or the dog?’ Brethren orders members to purge pets, sparking fears of global cull
Secretive religious sect Exclusive Brethren has ordered members to get rid of pets, leaving Australian families “heartbroken” and facing a devastating choice.
Members inside the group, formerly known as Exclusive Brethren, say some animals, including a kitten, have already been put down since this month’s edict from the sect’s upper echelons, which has controversial ties to conservative politics and substantial financial holdings.
The directive, obtained by this masthead, that “every household should be freshly” cleansed of “dirty” animals follows a dog attack on a young relative of Brethren leader Bruce Hales last month, and has conjured memories of a widely reported purge of pets by the sect in the 1960s that horrified the public.
As one Melbourne family made plans to dump their cat four hours out of town so it “could never find its way back home”, others told this masthead they would defy the order. In New Zealand, a member shared pictures mourning her kitten, which multiple people in the church said she had been pressured into euthanising this month.
The Brethren instructs its 50,000 members in Australia and around the world to live separated from society.
On May 2, at closed Brethren meetings across Australia, Canada, NZ, the UK and elsewhere, a letter from leadership was read out detailing a dog attack on a four-year-old relative of the Hales family at a member’s home. The boy survived but required stitches on his face.
“The ownership of such an animal, let alone it being kept at a brother’s home, is clearly wrong,” the letter read. “There are reports of some Brethren having reverted to owning pets, including dogs and other animals, which practice has been clearly spoken against in ministry.
More than a dozen current and former Brethren members told this masthead they worried another major purge of animals was imminent. Many spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing repercussions.
One Victorian member said her heart sank as the directive was read out, a rare explicit order from leadership. “Normally, we only get them for elections and things.”
Joy Nason, who grew up in the Brethren in Sydney, recalls being ordered as a teenager to take her family cat to the vet to be euthanised when the ban first came in about 1963.
“I was told to say he had a sore foot, that’s why he had to be put down, and, of course, to tell no one it was Brethren business,” she said.
Back then, newspapers in Australia and overseas reported Brethren bought the gas ether to put their animals to sleep at home, when vets discovered the trend and refused to euthanise.
Some members told this masthead that other pets were killed by more brutal means – drowned, shot or clubbed – at times in front of children. At least three blind Brethren were “ordered to destroy” their guide dogs, though some refused and were instead ex-communicated.
