Genesis 6:7

"So the Lord said, 'I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth - men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air - for I am grieved that I have made them.' "  Genesis 6:7

It seems unfair to wipe out the animals when it was mankind that angered God.  Had the animals become corrupt like the men of that day?  Can animals sin?  We know that they are not made in the image of God like we are (Genesis 1:26), but do they have the cognitive functions necessary to make moral decisions? 

GotQuestions.org suggests that possibility that the animals themselves were corrupt or that they were corrupted by their association with the men around them. Benson Commentary states that the animals were made for man so they were destroyed with man. Likewise, Barnes' Notes on the Bible states, "these animated creatures are not moral, and, therefore, the violent termination of their organic life is not a punishment."  The point these commentaries are making is that they are just animals, so their destruction was not punishment, merely collateral damage for mankind's punishment.

It is important for us to remember the influence our decisions have.  While we might think no one else will get hurt, that's not actually the case.  What things do I allow myself to indulge in that change my perspective so that I no longer see sin where I should?  What evil is happening around me that I am tolerating that I really should be doing something to stop it?  Are these indulgences really only hurting me?  Or are they hurting the world around me by letting myself become corrupted?