Niki Behrikis Shanahan is the author of several books on animals and Christian spirituality, including There Is Eternal Life for Animals. She lives in Tyngsborough, Mass.

Matthew Scully is the author of Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals and the Call to Mercy, which argues for decent treatment of animals from various points of view, including religious. He is a Los Angeles-based journalist and a  former speechwriter for Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Rita Reynolds is the founder of Animals’ Peace Garden in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and the author of Ask the Cow: A Gentle Guide to Finding Peace (2008). She frequently writes and speaks about the spiritual lessons taught by animals.

Susan Chernak McElroy is the author of All My Relations: Living With Animals as Teachers and Healers and Why Buffalo Dance: Animal and Wilderness Meditations Through the Seasons (2006).

Gregory Baylor is director of the Christian Legal Society and said outlawing sacramental tea would be the equivalent of banning the wine served at a Roman Catholic Mass.

The Rev. Mitzi Lynton is an interfaith pastor who participated in a grief support Webinar for Best Friends Network that discussed how animals grieve and how people mourn the deaths of animals. She is based in Arizona.

Kelly Shackelford is president and CEO of First Liberty Institute, a Texas law firm that works to preserve religious freedom and argued in support of the Bladensburg cross before the Supreme Court.

Roberta Kalechofsky is the founder of Jews for Animal Rights and Micah Publications of Marblehead, Mass. She participated in a panel on reaching out to religious groups at the Animal Rights 2003 conference. She requests that reporters contact her by email first and that they identify themselves fully in the subject line.

Jean Houston is the author of Mystical Dogs: Animals as Guides to Our Inner Life. She is based in Ashland, Ore.