Will Our Pets Be in Heaven?

Biblical reasons for hope

A Boy and His Dog: original watercolor by Shefali O’Hara

Recently I was talking to a new friend about the loss of his dog. I could empathize, as I have also mourned for pets who have passed, from my childhood hamster to a cat that lived over 20 years to an elderly dog.

The reality is that we become attached to our pets. Some people who are lonely or childless find them to fill voids in their lives. Even those whose lives are filled with human contact still find special joy in the unambiguous love pets provide. They do not judge us the way other people often do provide a loyalty rarely found elsewhere.

So it it makes sense that many of us believe animals will also be in Heaven.

Certainly St. Francis of Assisi thought animals had a place with God and were loved by Him. In his Canticle of the Creatures, he refers to different animals as “brother” or “sister” which are terms we use for family members. This indicates his belief that all of creation froms a family under one loving Creator.

Yet is there Biblical evidence for this?

A friend of mine with our dogs

Consider the story of the flood. Noah makes a place not just for his own family but also for…