Leviticus 22:28 states, "But you shall not kill an ox and a sheep and her young in one day." Since this commandment appears in the middle of a section of rules on sacrifices, one question that has been raised about it is whether it applies to all slaughter of animals, or just to animals that are sacrificed. Jewish halakhic tradition says it is the former. (b. Hullin 78a).
Another question has to do with the rationale for this rule, which appears right after the stipulation that a sacrificial animal must be at least eight days old (verse 27). One proposal to explain both verse 27 and verse 28 is that the love of a mother animal for her offspring is one of the highest and "most human" aspects of the life of an animal, and that human use of animals should honor this aspect and not blot it out. An animal sacrifice should not disrespect the animal's self-sacrifice for her offspring.
In general, the Bible teaches kindness toward animals. In Proverbs 12:10 we read, "Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel." Midrash Tanchuma sees in Proverbs 12:10 a contrast between God's mercy in Leviticus 22:28 and the cruelty of the wicked as exemplified by the Assyrian Empire. Hosea 10:14 states that "mothers were dashed in pieces with their children" by Assyrian military forces. We are to imitate God and not the cruel Assyrian monarchs.
Provisions like those in Leviticus 22:28 and Deuteronomy 22:6 may also have sustainability in mind. If some kind of animal is overharvested, there is danger of its becoming extinct. This is not just a trendy concern of the present moment. Such concerns were raised, for example, by Ramban (Nachmanides) in the thirteenth century AD. This is all part of man's "working and keeping" the Garden (Ge 2:!5).
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