Aren't the serpents steps from the Lord as well? (Assuming serpents have feet.) ;O)
There is a difference between "sent" and "allowed". Such is the difference between positive reprobation, declared a heresy by the Church at the Council of Orange 2, and negative reprobation, believed by the Church's greatest theologians, such as St. Augustine and St. Aquinas.
Regards
"The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord." Prov 16:33