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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.<\/p>\n
Members inside the group, formerly known as Exclusive Brethren, say some animals, including a kitten, have already been put down since this month\u2019s edict from the sect\u2019s upper echelons, which has controversial ties<\/a> to conservative politics and substantial financial holdings<\/a>.<\/p>\n The directive, obtained by this masthead, that \u201cevery household should be freshly\u201d cleansed of \u201cdirty\u201d 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.<\/p>\n As one Melbourne family made plans to dump their cat four hours out of town so it \u201ccould never find its way back home\u201d, 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>, and was raided<\/a> by the Australian Tax Office in 2024.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s home. The boy survived but required stitches on his face.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ownership of such an animal, let alone it being kept at a brother\u2019s home, is clearly wrong,\u201d the letter read. \u201cThere are reports of some Brethren having reverted to owning pets, including dogs and other animals, which practice has been clearly spoken against in ministry.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery household should be freshly exercised [concerned] to ensure the standard \u2026 is carried forward and maintained.\u201d<\/p>\n The directive referenced several Brethren teachings, including that \u201cdisposing of dogs\u201d was not enough: birds, \u201cmice out, cats too\u201d and that pet owners should then confess to the sect\u2019s \u201cassembly\u201d.<\/p>\n Following recent scandals, the Brethren now commonly orders its instructions be \u201cdestroyed after reading\u201d, but multiple recordings of the meetings were shared with this masthead, along with sect texts detailing past \u201cdisposals\u201d of \u201cunclean\u201d pets.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n One Victorian member said her heart sank as the directive was read out, a rare explicit order from leadership. \u201cNormally, we only get them for elections and things.\u201d<\/p>\n Her service dog had helped her through \u201cmany tough times\u201d, even as he drew disapproving comments within the sect, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cTimes when I was so suicidal, without thinking, I\u2019d go to step in front of traffic, and he\u2019d pull me back,\u201d she said. \u201cIf I\u2019m asked to choose between my church and the dog, it\u2019s going to be the dog.\u201d<\/p>\n Another family said their elderly aunt had also come under repeated \u201cpriestly\u201d pressure to get rid of her beloved companion dog. \u201cWe\u2019re worried they\u2019ll finally make her [do it] now, and she\u2019ll be totally alone,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n The church tells adherents that loving animals distracts from devotion to God, but members say they view this latest command as \u201canother test to make us prove our loyalty\u201d in a sect where much of daily life, from money to family, is strictly controlled<\/a> by leadership.<\/p>\n \u201cThere could be another walkout,\u201d said one member. \u201cSome aren\u2019t happy. We\u2019ve got [leadership] living in mansions<\/a> while lots of us are struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n The church dismissed concerns of a pet cull as a conspiracy led by \u201canti-Brethren activists\u201d, claiming no one in the sect would hurt an animal.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe recent message from church elders read out at meetings was \u2026 simply a reminder of a principle that was established some time ago,\u201d a spokesman said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe church would never condone cruelty to any living creature,\u201d he said, adding some members still kept livestock.<\/p>\n The church also denied the 1960s pet purge, calling it \u201ccompletely untrue \u2026 to the best of our knowledge\u201d. The ban and associated cull was well-documented in newspapers, academic papers and books around the world, as well as the Brethren\u2019s own ministries.<\/p>\n When asked why members being made to \u201cdispose of\u201d pets is so often referenced in Brethren texts, which also say \u201cthe best dog is a dead dog\u201d, the church did not answer.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI was told to say he had a sore foot, that\u2019s why he had to be put down, and, of course, to tell no one it was Brethren business,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI was terrified if I didn\u2019t, I\u2019d go to hell. Even giving animals away, they said, was a sin. I was so upset, I couldn\u2019t stay to watch and, in my heart, I always hoped that vet saw through me, and had Tiddles rehomed instead.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Some members told this masthead that other pets were killed by more brutal means \u2013 drowned, shot or clubbed \u2013 at times in front of children. At least three blind Brethren were \u201cordered to destroy\u201d their guide dogs, though some refused<\/a> and were instead ex-communicated.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you never know which of the thousands of rules they\u2019ll suddenly enforce so you\u2019re forever on eggshells,\u201d said one member. \u201cA lot of us have pets now.\u201d<\/p>\n Reports of animal cruelty connected to the sect have continued in the years since the first purge, and more recent \u201creminders\u201d of the ban from leadership have frequently seen animals killed or dumped again.<\/p>\n A Melbourne woman put down her cats three years ago when the edict was mentioned in passing at a meeting, according to three members. In NSW in the 2000s, an ex-member said Brethren asked farmers to shoot their dogs for them.<\/p>\n \u201cFear of getting caught flouting the rule means it\u2019s kept secret,\u201d said one member. \u201cThough my father has always enjoyed shooting cats.\u201d<\/p>\n Another woman recalled coming home from holidays as a child in the 1990s to find their litter of puppies missing. \u201cWe found out years later, they\u2019d come and drowned them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Ex-member Cheryl Bawtinheimer, who has accused<\/a> a Brethren member of sexual abuse and is being sued by the<\/a> church for copyright infringement over her podcast\u2019s use of a logo, said she had been flooded with messages from people inside the church \u201cpanicking\u201d about the new crackdown.<\/p>\n \u201cOne\u2019s cat\u2019s just had kittens. They\u2019re refusing to get rid of them,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople are still scarred from the first ban.\u201d<\/p>\n Bawtinheimer and more than a dozen sources connected to the church estimate that thousands of animals around the world have been killed over the decades because of the Brethren\u2019s ban, and others mistreated or abandoned.<\/p>\n Late on Friday, after further questions from this masthead, the Brethren said it had decided to hold a service over the weekend, it claimed to \u201creinforce\u201d the message that cruelty was not acceptable, and members should explore options to rehome their pets.<\/p>\n Ex-member Neville McCallum, who vividly recalls Brethren killing their animals during the 1960s, said the sect frequently enforced \u201cbizarre\u201d rules such as the pet ban as \u201ca test of loyalty\u201d. He managed to get around it where he lives in New Zealand by calling his pet a guard dog for his vineyard.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I wasn\u2019t ever able to take him home properly, poor thing,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, I\u2019m going around to local vets here to warn them about this latest pet cull.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ed003879132ed557726cae80b2af0a1bcea96c3b.jpeg\")
The kitten euthanised this month in New Zealand, according to Brethren members, because of the new global edict against pets.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a60087d78fa6a4930d0eb245dd2046003aba9bb8.jpeg\")
A drawing ex-member Andrew Hart made as a child. His cat was put down in the UK in 1964 under the Brethren pet ban.Andrew Hart<\/p>\n![\"Joy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2cf6c3d91212f2d3799a8f598e2f7d05757c6f32.jpeg\")
Joy Nason pictured with her beloved cat Tiddles in the 1960s.Joy Nason<\/p>\n![\"Coverage](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2853b997e3f5401b5ea3d20932db07d5dc5f6a73.jpeg\")
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.<\/p>\n