Whether it’s your hamster, your goldfish, or your family dog, it is not easy for a child to face the death of a pet. It is even harder for a parent to have to explain it.
At one time we had 6+ hamsters and 2 dogs. Now we are down to one rabbit.
We grieved the hardest when our dogs died – one of old age and one of a car accident. So we’ve had to deal with both on a different level.
Children will inevitably ask, “Do our pets go to heaven?” They want to be reassured that their pet is in a good place, and that someone is taking care of them. They want to know if they will see their Fluffie, Tuffie, Muffie, Stuffie, Puffie and Rose again. (Our hamsters.)
I know that many Christians believe that since animals do not have a soul, they do not live eternally and therefore do not go to heaven.
I agree that animals do not have a soul as humans do, and they do not have a place in God’s kingdom as humans do. However, I am not theologically incorrect when I teach my children that they will see animals, probably plenty of them, in heaven. I am betting that they will see their hamsters as well as Chocolate and Puggie again. (Our dogs.)
- If heaven is a place with no more tears, wouldn’t God give us back our beloved pets to enjoy in heaven?
- If heaven is a place of love, what better place than for our pets to love us and for us to love them even more than when we had them on earth?
- If heaven is a place where the lion lies with the lamb, wouldn’t we see the dogs lie with cats and cats lie with birds?
- If heaven is a place where a creature like an ox with six wings sings praises to God*, wouldn’t it be natural to have a animal with simply four legs howling praises to God also?
I think it is important for our children to know that they will see their pets again. It teaches them that there is more to this life. There is eternity, there is hope, there is a God who loves us.
If we want our pets in heaven, God will surely give us our pets in heaven. I have no doubt about it.
*Revelations 4:7-8
Photo by Lin Pernille ♥ Photography
It’s so true. I’m lucky that we haven’t come across this yet, but will be thinking of you and this post when that time comes…
It’s painful but it’s all a part of life I guess.
My dog will go to heaven as long as there are beds to lay on and food to steal.
I’m sure we’ll see our pets again in heaven. It wouldn’t really be heaven without them.
[...] In his sermon our pastor mentioned my blog post about pets going to heaven. In case you are wondering, I wrote that in my parenting blog. Â [...]
@Lisa
Just for the kids yes I agree with you we’ll see our pets again in heaven and I wonder if we can still identify them.:-)
Who’s expert in Bible here do pets really don’t go to heaven for not having a soul?
-Jan
From what I understand, animals do not have a soul in the sense that they were not given the breath of life from God as He gave to mankind. Animals do not inherit eternal life. They do not have a soul that lives forever.
However, I believe that God will have some type of animal in heaven. Why not? God was so creative in creating this world, I am sure He has a lot more amazing creations in the next.
The New Testament encourages us to hope. The Bible encourages us to dream and imagine … and to love. I think you combine all these things when you hope for your pets to be in heaven; I think that’s a beautiful thing.
What I wonder about is IF they’re there, can we finally talk to them???
Hello
So much I’d like to share, but I’ll just say this;
I enjoyed reading this blog, and on January 7th, I witnessed a horrible incident that several hours later took the life (on this earth) of the best friend I ever had, Sundance, who was only 14 months old.
I am a 47 year old “guy’s guy”, a jock thru and thru, and I tell you, that dog,( a rescue they called him when we got him at 8 weeks old , a pit bull puppy who would not have been adopted out because of breed policy if they had not known us), that dog on God’s behalf, changed my life.
Since losing him, I have done extensive scriptural research, and just want to invite you to visit my blog ( blog.foreversundance.org), and read the legacy of Steve and Sundance.
In my soul, I believe God, in his mercy knows, when I cross that bridge to entry of heaven. and then the new earth, I long to see my boy, waiting.
To God be the glory. I will never be the same again
GO SUNDANCE!!
We will begin again
Rev. 21:5 Hang on buddy!!
I like this post very much. It gives me hope for tomorow. my cat is very sick today, she is just a kitten but i have come to terms that she will probably die. I am very sad about this, she is not in any pain, i just wish there was something I could do to help her. I dont want to have her put to sleep because she is at peace, sleeping right now, and she is here with her best friend, another kitten named Buddy. I think God would want me to leave her be, it is His will that determines whether she dies or not, not mine. I have hope that when she dies, she will go to heaven. She helped my life. She loved me. She made me smile. IF she did these things for me here on this cruel earth, then why wouldnt it stand to reason she will go to heaven if I go?