Do animals/pets go to heaven?

[Illiniwek]

Obviously, I am confronted with this question in my own life right now, unfortunately.... And this is causing me difficulty with how to handle putting my dog down. If I was certain I would see my dog again in Heaven, it might be slightly easier to let him go. Otherwise, I am trying to squeeze out every possible good day to enjoy with him.

I am a Catholic, so any answer from my Church just isn't clear. There are a lot of reasons, I feel, to believe that animals will be in Heaven. I mean, they were in the Garden of Eden, right? If they were there then, why would humanity's original sin and then eventual salvation mean that animals would leave the garden and not be allowed in Heaven? But there are still a lot of Catholic thinkers who strongly say animals have souls for the Earth, and no further. They also argue that we won't need our animals in Heaven, because we will have everything we need in God.

So for those who believe in Heaven, what are your thoughts on whether our companions will join us? I really desperately hope that the answer is yes and my dog will be able to move on to a better place.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Islam teaches that you will be able to keep your pets in heaven, including deceased ones.

[Why]

The is absolutely nothing to indicate pets go anywhere but into a grave to rot. It is just wishful thinking by people who are sad that an animal they have had in their lives and do not want to accept reality.
People need to use their brains not their emotions when looking at this subject.

[Why]

Islam teaches that you will be able to keep your pets in heaven, including deceased ones.

Islam is fiction so it proves nothing.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The Bible is unsurprisingly silent about pets. Animals being kept for companionship alone is a fairly recent phenomenon historically. Proverbs 12:10 speaks most directly to the point.
     "A righteous man cares about his animal’s health,
     but even the merciful acts of the wicked are cruel."
Between this and other references to animals in the Bible, it's doubtful there won't be animals in Heaven. However, the second half of that verse leads me to believe that just as we are to be in our perfected forms, so will they. Hence don't expect Fluffy to be there in his current twisted form if he's one of those pure inbred animals.

[afleitch]

However, the second half of that verse leads me to believe that just as we are to be in our perfected forms, so will they. Hence don't expect Fluffy to be there in his current twisted form if he's one of those pure inbred animals.

So heaven will be full of packs of wolves

[Antonio the Sixth]

The is absolutely nothing to indicate pets go anywhere but into a grave to rot. It is just wishful thinking by people who are sad that an animal they have had in their lives and do not want to accept reality.
People need to use their brains not their emotions when looking at this subject.

[NeverAgain]

If there was such a thing as heaven (normal, sane), then it should probably include all creatures. I'd imagine that Heaven is a bureaucratic nightmare.

[TDAS04]

You get what you need to be happy there, and that includes your pets.

[Famous Mortimer]

The is absolutely nothing to indicate pets go anywhere but into a grave to rot. It is just wishful thinking by people who are sad that an animal they have had in their lives and do not want to accept reality.
People need to use their brains not their emotions when looking at this subject.

There's absolutely nothing to indicate humans go to heaven either. Except for some words. I'm typing some words of my own though "animals go to heaven" Now there's equal evidence.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I took great comfort in the Sarah Smith passage from The Great Divorce after my cat died a few years ago. I'm not sure I buy it, but I took comfort in it. Didn't vote.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Dave really has to fix this thing with pictures.

[Why]

The is absolutely nothing to indicate pets go anywhere but into a grave to rot. It is just wishful thinking by people who are sad that an animal they have had in their lives and do not want to accept reality.
People need to use their brains not their emotions when looking at this subject.

There's absolutely nothing to indicate humans go to heaven either. Except for some words. I'm typing some words of my own though "animals go to heaven" Now there's equal evidence.

Yes, you are right.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

However, the second half of that verse leads me to believe that just as we are to be in our perfected forms, so will they. Hence don't expect Fluffy to be there in his current twisted form if he's one of those pure inbred animals.

So heaven will be full of packs of wolves

Not quite, but there will be no Pekingese.

[Why]

There will be animals in the kingdom of heaven but they will not be resurrected pets.

[Lexii, harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy]

I don't believe in heaven.

[Why]

I don't believe in heaven.

I don't believe in heaven in the sense it is being used in this thread. Heaven is God's, heaven will come to earth, not humans to heaven.
"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"

[DemPGH]

Obvious write-in: Who in all the wide world could possibly know!?

Default to no, have no reason to believe so, etc.

[Frodo]

Not sure about the monotheistic traditions, but in the pagan world, great men were buried with their prized possessions including their pets (cats weren't mummified for nothing), so I have to assume that they certainly believed that the afterlife was open to humans as well as animals. 

[Oldiesfreak1854]

I don't know, because the Bible does not give a specific answer.  Although God did not give the animals the intelligence we have, or make them in His spiritual image like he made man, I have to think that they will be.  The Bible seems to suggest there will be animals in heaven, and Jesus said that a sparrow doesn't fall without the Father's notice.  Based on that, I cannot imagine that God does not love or care about animals enough to resurrect them in heaven.  Moreover, animals cannot sin, and therefore cannot be lost.

Of course, none of us will know for sure until we actually get to heaven.

[afleitch]

Not sure about the monotheistic traditions, but in the pagan world, great men were buried with their prized possessions including their pets (cats weren't mummified for nothing), so I have to assume that they certainly believed that the afterlife was open to humans as well as animals. 

I want that

[/]

Not sure about the monotheistic traditions, but in the pagan world, great men were buried with their prized possessions including their pets (cats weren't mummified for nothing), so I have to assume that they certainly believed that the afterlife was open to humans as well as animals.  

I want that

You realize that means they'll kill all your pets if you die before they do, right?

[Kingpoleon]

MAYBE

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

For Christian tradition, scripture is extremely vague on what experiencing the afterlife is supposed to be like for humans, because it is indescribable.  But if Heaven is paradise and being such would imply that man has everything one could ever possibly need, then I would assume man is never alone and that animals do join us in the afterlife.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

For Christian tradition, scripture is extremely vague on what experiencing the afterlife is supposed to be like for humans, because it is indescribable.  But if Heaven is paradise and being such would imply that man has everything one could ever possibly need, then I would assume man is never alone and that animals do join us in the afterlife.

By this logic, video games, pizza, sex, and drinking water are all found in Heaven.

Cool.