Exclusive Brethren pet ban order sparks fears of global cull in sect, The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church

The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church is ordering its members to purge their homes of animals.

Secretive religious sect Exclusive Brethren has ordered members to get rid of pets, leaving Australian families “heartbroken” and facing a devastating choice.

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Secretive religious sect The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church has ordered its members to purge their homes of animals, leaving some Australian families heartbroken as they feel pressured to kill or abandon their pets. 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. But it has drawn scrutiny for its involvement in recent elections, campaigning for the Liberal Party, and was raided by the Australian Tax Office in 2024. The kitten euthanised this month in New Zealand, according to Brethren members, because of the new global edict against pets. 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. “Every household should be freshly exercised [concerned] to ensure the standard … is carried forward and maintained.” The directive referenced several Brethren teachings, including that “disposing of dogs” was not enough: birds, “mice out, cats too” and that pet owners should then confess to the sect’s “assembly”. Following recent scandals, the Brethren now commonly orders its instructions be “destroyed after reading”, but multiple recordings of the meetings were shared with this masthead, along with sect texts detailing past “disposals” of “unclean” pets. 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.” Her service dog had helped her through “many tough times”, even as he drew disapproving comments within the sect, she said.

“Times when I was so suicidal, without thinking, I’d go to step in front of traffic, and he’d pull me back,” she said. “If I’m asked to choose between my church and the dog, it’s going to be the dog.” A drawing ex-member Andrew Hart made of his cat as a child. His cat was soon after put down in the UK, in 1964, under the Brethren pet ban. Andrew Hart Another family said their elderly aunt had also come under repeated “priestly” pressure to get rid of her beloved companion dog. “We’re worried they’ll finally make her [do it] now, and she’ll be totally alone,” they said. The church tells adherents that loving animals distracts from devotion to God, but members say they view this latest command as “another test to make us prove our loyalty” in a sect where much of daily life, from money to family, is strictly controlled by leadership. “There could be another walkout,” said one member. “Some aren’t happy. We’ve got [leadership] living in mansions while lots of us are struggling.” The church dismissed concerns of a pet cull as a conspiracy led by “anti-Brethren activists”, claiming no one in the sect would hurt an animal.

“The recent message from church elders read out at meetings was … simply a reminder of a principle that was established some time ago,” a spokesman said. “The church would never condone cruelty to any living creature,” he said, adding some members still kept livestock. The church also denied the 1960s pet purge, calling it “completely untrue … to the best of our knowledge”. The ban and associated cull was well-documented in newspapers, academic papers and books around the world, as well as the Brethren’s own ministries. When asked why members being made to “dispose of” pets is so often referenced in Brethren texts, which also say “the best dog is a dead dog”, the church did not answer. Joy Nason pictured with her beloved cat Tiddles in the 1960s. Joy Nason 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.

“I was terrified if I didn’t, I’d go to hell. Even giving animals away, they said, was a sin. I was so upset, I couldn’t stay to watch and, in my heart, I always hoped that vet saw through me, and had Tiddles rehomed instead.” 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. Since then, members said pets had crept back into the lives of Brethren, especially after the pandemic. Some would hide their animals or send them away when hosting Brethren events, even as others openly owned cats, birds and smaller animals, believing the old edict applied only to dogs, or excused working animals. “But you never know which of the thousands of rules they’ll suddenly enforce so you’re forever on eggshells,” said one member. “A lot of us have pets now.” Coverage of the first pet purge by the Exclusive Brethren included this article on the RSPCA investigating, published in The Daily Mail February 7, 1964. Reports of animal cruelty connected to the sect have continued in the years since the first purge, and more recent “reminders” of the ban from leadership have frequently seen animals killed or dumped again.