Feeding Animals on Shabbos
Question: Is it permitted to feed animals or pets on Shabbos?
Discussion: Shabbos, the day of rest, is supposed to be just that, a complete timeout from our daily activities, even actions that do not necessarily violate one of the thirty-nine forbidden melachos. Any tirchah, work or toil, not connected or needed for Shabbos is also forbidden. Feeding animals, a chore which is quite burdensome, is considered by Chazal as not being an essential Shabbos activity, since animals often fend for themselves and do not need to be fed by humans. But what about animals that are unable to feed themselves? What about animals who roam the streets and belong to no one? The general halacha regarding feeding animals on Shabbos is as follows:
One is permitted to feed any animal that relies on humans for its food source, whether he owns that animal or not, but one is not allowed to feed any animal that could fend and feed itself, even if he owns that animal.1 In practical terms, it follows that one may feed most household pets,2 birds, aquarium fish, farm (except hogs3) and domesticated animals, but one may not feed a wild animal or bird (even if he owns them and they frequent or nest on his property). There are several exceptions to this rule:
- Hungry stray dogs, even those that can fend for themselves, may be fed.4 [Dangerous dogs, which are forbidden to be raised in a Jewish home, may not be fed at all, even during the week.]
- Any animal that by nature can feed itself but has somehow become dependent on humans for food and can no longer fend for itself, may be fed on Shabbos if failing to do so will cause that animal to be in distress (tza’ar ba’alei chayim).5
- There is a custom practiced in some communities to feed kernels of wheat to the birds of the wild on Shabbos Shirah6. Some poskim7 strongly criticized this custom since it is forbidden to feed wild birds on Shabbos, but other poskim defended this practice on various grounds8. Since there is no consensus, each community should follow their custom9.
1. O.C. 324:11 and Beiur Halachah, s.v. v’yonei.
2. Some household cats are fed exclusively by their owners and may be fed on Shabbos. Many cats, though, fend for themselves, and those may not be fed on Shabbos; see Shemiras Shabbos K’hilchasah 27, note 71.
3. Jews are not supposed to raise hogs, so one is not responsible to feed them. There are, however, some exceptions when it is permitted to temporarily raise hogs and sell them when the price is right. In those cases, one may feed the hogs on Shabbos as well (Mishnah Berurah 324:30).
4. Mishnah Berurah 324:31 and Aruch ha-Shulchan 324:2. See dissenting opinion in Kaf ha-Chayim 324:46.
5. Aruch ha-Shulchan 324:2; Kaf ha-Chayim 324:43.
6. Some say that we feed the birds as a reward for “singing” the Shirah along with the Jewish people (Tosafos Shabbos 324:17), while others suggest that the food is a reward for eating the manna that was spread by Dasan and Aviram in defiance of Moshe (see Nimukei Orach Chayim, O.C. 324).
7. Shulchan Aruch ha-Rav 324:8; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 87:18; Mishnah Berurah 324:31.
8. See Aruch ha-Shluchan 324:2; Minchas Shabbos 87:16; Kaf ha-Chayim 324:47.
9. Some communities, wishing to avoid this controversy, practice this custom on Friday or Sunday before or after Shabbos Shirah.