Do Pets Go To Heaven?

          I am an animal lover. Throughout my life, I’ve had various dogs, birds, and fish. I even had a cat for one day.  I currently have two dogs, which my family and I love.  So many people love their pets just as much as they love people, and there is a prosperous market out there that provides clothes, shoes, and other accessories for our pets. With that being said, some may wonder if their beloved Fido or Fluffy will be in Heaven with them. We can go to several places in the Bible to see the answer to the question, do our pets go to Heaven?

1. Man was made in God’s Image. When God created man, He made them in His Own Image (Gen 1:27). Does that mean that God has arms, legs, hair, skin, etc? No. This means that mankind has a soul.  We are created as a spirit and we know that God is a Spirit (John 4:24).  Nothing is said in the Bible about animals being made in the Image of God. Both humans and animals are similar in that they both have “life,” but only humans have souls like God. This shows that humans are on a higher level than the animals. So those people who tend to focus on the welfare of animals more than the welfare of people do not have their priorities straight!
2. God granted humans a certain level of dominion over animals.  When God created Adam, He gave Adam dominion over the animals. “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Gen. 1:28).  This means that humans and animals are not equal.
3. Humans are allowed to kill and even eat animals. Animals are for human use to eat (Gen 9:3), for clothing (Gen 3:21), and to provide a certain degree of companionship (Genesis 2:19-20), though clearly this companionship pales in comparison to the companionship provided by a spouse for even after the animals were created, Adam still did not have a companion comparable unto him (Genesis 2:21-24).  We are not allowed to kill other human beings (Exodus 20:13, Romans 13:9). Why are we allowed to kill animals but not our fellow man or woman? Because animals are not eternal beings that have eternal souls, but humans are.
4. Dogs are used as examples of sin in the Bible. For example, Peter likens a man who repents of his sins but returns to that same sin again to a dog that vomits, but then turns around and eats his own vomit (II Peter 2:22).
5. The souls of humans and animals go in different places. God through King Solomon tells that both humans and beasts experience death, but the spirit (or life force) of humans goes upward, while the life force of animals goes downward to the ground (Ecclesiastes 3:21).  Human beings are created with each having a soul, spirit, and body.  We find this mentioned in I Thessalonians 5:23.  Here we are told, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our body will return to the dust as will animals (Genesis 3:19).  Our spirit will return unto God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7).  Our soul will either go Paradise or Torment  upon our death (Luke 16).  Our soul will be found in Heaven (Revelation 20:4) or Hell (Matthew 10:28).
6. God specifically says that there are no dogs in Heaven:  “For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie” (Revelation 22:15).  According to this verse, dogs will not be in Heaven.  Those behave as dogs will not be there either.  If dogs are not allowed in Heaven, then it must be the case that all animals that walk the earth will not go into Heaven.

    From these verses, we can see that although our pets give us happiness and companionship in this life, they cannot follow us into eternity. How popular culture views pets is very different than how God intends them to be viewed, and we must make sure that we put animals in their proper place. After a beloved pet dies, it is indeed a sad time for the owner, however, that pet does not “cross the rainbow bridge” into eternity like many pet lovers believe. These animals merely cease to exist after death. This fact should encourage us to make sure that we do not spend too much time doting on our pets to the neglect of other human beings.  We must make sure that we are keeping our focus on serving God, rather than becoming distracted by worldly matters. 

---