KANSAS CITY, MO. Starr, Carolyn Sharp’s cherished greyhound, was diagnosed with a fatal form of cancer when she was 4 years old.
Sharp made the decision that as long as Starr wasn’t in too much pain, the two of them would be together. Sharp gave the greyhound radiation treatments and pain patches for a while until the vet advised him it was time to put a stop to it.
According to Sharp, a resident of Overland Park, Kansas, “I held her in my arms for the two of us as we went in for the last time until she had left.” I still haven’t really accepted loosing her at such an early age.
Even now, eight years later, she is still perplexed as to “why.” She is confident that in the afterlife, she will hold Starr once more.
Sharp predicted that there will be several dogs and three cats waiting for him.
Do animals have an existence beyond death? Or, to put it another way, “Do all dogs go to heaven?”
As he consoles folks who have lost a pet, Jack Vinyardi of Kansas City, Missouri, an ordained interfaith chaplain of animals, says he is frequently asked that question.
He informs them that no religion makes the claim to know without a doubt what happens to animals once they pass away.
“Comforting is my duty,” he remarked. “I really believe that if we search deeply into our own hearts and ask for direction there, we can all discover the answers to heavenly questions. Our solutions may not match those others have discovered, but they are our own, and they will provide us peace. And there is only one theological principle I can state with certainty: since our bonds with our pets are spiritual and emotional in nature, they never truly cease, regardless of where our bodies and souls may travel after death.”
When asked whether there is an afterlife for animals, members of different faiths provided the following responses:
The academic dean of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Thor Madsen, admitted that Christians long to reunite with their animals. “We actually have no scriptural foundations for a certainty that our pets will be resurrected along with us,” he said in his conclusion.
According to Madsen, some Christians believe that having their pets with them in paradise will fill a crucial gap in their happiness.
The fellowship that we, as followers of Christ, shall have with our Creator and Savior, he continued, is “heaven’s tremendous bounty for us.” “At that moment, nothing will appear to be missing.”
Children and some adults have enquired about their dogs’ whereabouts in paradise with the Rev. John Schmeidler of Lawrence, Kansas’ St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church.
According to Schmeidler, a Capuchin Franciscan, “St. Francis of Assisi considered animals as God’s creatures to be cherished and respected. St. Thomas Aquinas talked about animals having a soul, but it wasn’t similar to that of people.
He claimed that according to traditional Catholic doctrine, animals are not allowed to enter paradise.
“But many people struggle with it, and I do too when I see a pet owner in pain. I’m confident that if God can raise us from the dead, he can certainly raise a dog. I know that God wants us to be completely happy in paradise, and if having a dog will help us achieve that goal.”
According to Kansas City-based Muslim scholar Abdalla Idris Ali, there are no explicit references to an afterlife for animals in the Quran. However, there are veiled allusions. He continued, “Indirectly, if they want their dogs, they can have them with them.” One argues that in paradise, people will receive everything they have requested.
Ali explained: “For instance, he would charge an animal with horns who exploited one without horns, and that horned animal will be converted to dust after taking him to account for what the horned animal did.
Congregation Ohev Sholom in Prairie Village, Kansas, is led by Rabbi Scott White “Judaism holds that those who are genuinely good will receive a fortunate existence in the world to come. That such a life to contain the animal that served as the inspiration for greatness is only fitting.
“Paradise with my own mutt [Rescue the Wonder Dog] is for me the ideal incentive to pursue virtue,” the author writes.
American Indians have the view that all living things are interrelated, according to Northern Cherokee Gary Langston of Kansas City.
“All living creatures are Earth’s children,” he declared. “Whether we have feet, wings, or roots doesn’t matter.
“So, yes, animals do have an afterlife. We are all returning to the Creator, our true home. Yes, folks will be able to see their pets once more. My childhood dog’s spirit never left me; instead, he simply transitioned to another dimension.”
According to Langston, he thinks that after he passes away, he will enter the realm in which his dog resides, where they will both be in the spirit form.
The oldest and most virtuous of the five Pandava brothers, Yudhisthira, has a narrative in the Hindu epic “Mahabharata.” His devoted dog Dhruba accompanied him on his last voyage to heaven, according to Anand Bhattacharyya, a Hindu living in the Kansas City region.
He declared, “Yudhisthira was permitted to enter heaven, but not his dog.” “However, he was reluctant to go to heaven without his dog. Both were granted entrance to heaven in an atmosphere of perpetual harmony at Yudhisthira’s request.”
According to Bhattacharyya, the general Hindu view is that animals have souls but cannot reach eternal existence.
“Animal souls eventually progress to the human plane due to the soul’s innate desire to be reunited with its source (God). The soul can unite with God in eternal pleasure after it has taken on a human body. However, it can take numerous more reincarnations in human form until the spirit is freed from the cycle of death and rebirth.”
Linda Prugh of the Vedanta Society, a group founded on Hindu philosophy, has a similar point of view. Animals, she claimed, had souls, but unlike people, they are unable to reason or distinguish between right and wrong. According to her, animals go through a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth as they evolve into higher forms and finally make it to the human level.
According to Marnie Hammer of Mid America Dharma, “I don’t know” if there is an afterlife for either humans or animals from a Buddhist perspective.
She explained that the Buddha advocated living in the present moment rather than wasting a lot of time thinking about the future.
Hammer argued that according to Buddhist doctrine, the animal world is a lower plane of existence.
I don’t know whether I’ll ever see them again, but the three cats I’ve had have made my life richer and I’ve shared it with them, she added. It is not the question, you say.
If one is making life “more calm and generous for everyone,” she posed the question.
Is my dog in the afterlife awaiting me?
So your dog is in paradise waiting for you? Yes, your dog will be there for you when you get to paradise. Because dogs are good and have no malice in their hearts, they all get to paradise. Your dog deserves to spend their afterlife in peace and happiness with you by their side.
Knowing that you will meet up with your canine companion at the heavenly gates will help you feel better.
We are aware of the agony that comes with losing a closest friend, but fortunately, this is only a temporary break in your relationship. Continue reading to find the answers to your questions concerning your dog’s afterlife and discover how to spot clues that your dog is greeting you from the other side.
What is it like for a dog in heaven?
The narrator of Garth Stein’s book The Art of Racing in the Rain informs us that dogs are interred in Mongolian hills so that no one steps on their graves. The owner intends for his dog to have a human body after he dies and whispers this request into the dog’s ear. After that, the dog’s tail is amputated and placed below his head. He takes a bite of steak to fuel himself for the arduous voyage ahead. The dog can now freely roam the high Mongolian desert because his soul has been set free. Running, always running, is what I picture dogs doing in the afterlife.
Cynthia Rylant’s book Dog Paradise tells us that “God knows that dogs love running the most, so when they go to heaven, they don’t require wings. They get fields from him. There are fields everywhere. A dog simply rushes when he first enters heaven.” The dog is caressed and told again how great he is after finishing his run. To me, this sounds perfect.
The Rainbow Bridge is one of the most persistent concepts in pet loss mythology. This prose poem appears in pet loss books and websites alarmingly frequently. It is frequently given the name “Anonymous,” probably because no one can pinpoint the author. According to Wikipedia, the poem was composed between 1980 and 1992 by Paul C. Dahm, Wallace Sife, or William N. Britton. The website also adds that the Rainbow Bridge sounds a lot like the Bifrst bridge from Norse mythology and mentions a similar tale that can be found in a Margaret Marshall Saunders novel. This Bifrst Bridge is the shimmering bridge that connects Asgard to Earth and enables the gods to travel back and forth. Those of you familiar with Marvel Comics and Thor, the god of Thunder, will recognize this as the Bifrst Bridge.
The poem claims that when companion animals pass away, they go to a location called the Rainbow Bridge, which is just over the street from heaven. In the delightful meadow next to the Bridge, our animals can run around and chase balls and bunnies and eat as many bones or catnip sprigs as they choose after being brought back to health and freed from all pain and misery. They run around and wait for us, their human friend, for however long it takes here in the meadow. After our joyous reunion, we cross the Bridge hand in hand and enter paradise together. When they finally see us approaching, they run toward us (running again).
Lisa Miller examines our continuing interest in death and the afterlife in her book Heaven. Miller estimates that 80% of Americans believe in some form of paradise. What about animal paradise? Do pets get to heaven? seems to be one of the most commonly asked questions online. The wide range of responses given is expected, but what is unexpected is how strongly people feel that animals should or should not be let through the golden gates. (More will be said in a subsequent post.) I’m happy to inform that Billy Graham has stated in an interview that animals do indeed go to paradise, but only because they are necessary to our happiness.
There are some challenging theological issues raised by animal heaven. What if I’ve owned a lot of pets over the course of my life? Will they all sprint to the Rainbow Bridge to meet me there? Do the dogs and cats ever fight? On whose right side will I be walking? The heavenly state of animals has been discussed by theologians as revered as St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. Questions raised include whether animals have souls, whether they go to heaven, hell, or somewhere else entirely, and how many animal angels can fit on the tip of a pin. Who knows whether the human spirit rises to the heavens or whether the animal spirit descends to the earth? (2 Corinthians 3:11) Unsurprisingly, there isn’t much agreement.
The Rainbow Bridge is a charming tale, but I feel like it’s a bit self-serving. Do our animals truly spend all of their time in the meadow waiting for us, or might they maybe have some other mysterious purpose? I wonder if they’ll stop by the bridge for a short hello and a quick scratch behind the ears before continuing on their way. Maybe they have their own animal paradise where people are forbidden.
What are the afterlife’s animal signs?
Animals may leave clues or messages for people in the afterlife, including:
- basic thoughts or feelings transmitted through telepathy.
- odors that make you think of the animal.
- physical contact (such as feeling an animal jump up on a bed or sofa).
- Sounds (such as the barking, meowing, or other vocalizations of an animal).
What your dead dog is trying to tell you?
Your pet may have recently gone away, but now that they are at peace, they have a few things they want you to know:
1. They Decided to Spend Their Life with You: Despite having access to a large number of people to rely on, they decided to spend their time with you and cherished every minute of it. If given the chance to start over, they wouldn’t have made any changes and would go exactly the same way. 2. There Was Nothing You Could Have Done: Despite how difficult it is to consider and how much you would prefer to avoid hearing it, there was no decision that could have been done differently to have led to them still being alive today. They can see and comprehend that this was their time to go on. They now want you to acknowledge what happened and start remembering them the way they were. 3. Your pet loves you more than they love themselves, and they know that you love them more than anything else. Every day they experienced that love, they felt safe and loved when they went away, and now your love for them has saved them. 4. They are Still With You Right Now: They are still with you right now and live on in your memories and in your heart. They will never leave your side and will always be there for you. 5. They Are Sorry for the Pain and Sadness You Are Feeling: Witnessing someone you love pass away while also grieving for them can be a terrifying and emotionally taxing experience. They don’t want you to feel pain in the future. They want to thank you for everything you did for them because they are so appreciative of the care you provided them throughout their life and in their final moments.
One of the most precious things you can do for your pet is to tuck those memories of them into the furthest corners of your mind and heart. Your pet will live eternally thanks to your memories. When we pass away, neither pets nor we want to have any regrets. Naturally, you want every creature you own to live a long, prosperous life, filled with love and happiness, until the day comes when they must say their final goodbyes. No matter whether your pet passed away suddenly or aged to a ripe old age and died naturally, never let there be regrets.
