Do Shelties Have Souls?

corbinam said:
I'm Catholic and have honestly never looked up what "we Catholics" think about animals in Heaven. It's likely that they believe that they won't be there...but here's my take.

In my opinion, Heaven is a place where everything is wonderful all the time. And to me, that means having my shelties there with me (with possibly a bit less barking :lol:)
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I spent about 20 years as a Catholic myself - my favorite priest was adamant that there WOULD DEFINITELY be animals in heaven. (He raised beagles, though, so that may disqualify his opinion, LOL.)

Yes, Heaven will have Shelties, but I sincererly and reverently hope that the barking will be toned down some. <grin>
 
I believe that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and there will be animals there. However, we do not know much more than that.
 
Chris said:
I believe the spirit of God is in all He has created. His spirit is everlasting -- and so, I firmly expect to be with all whom I love in life -- including a passel of Shelties!
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You put into words exactly what I believe Chris. I am an Anglican, and have always believed that our beloved pets will join us all in heaven.
 
Jaynie, I quite understand your point of view, and, I agree. The old Celtic Church, which was predominant in Scotland prior to Queen Margaret and her advocacy of the RCC, allowed for Christian burial of animals known to be the especial friends of people. I have personally encountered clergy who are happy to bless pets, and others who are unwilling to do so. My shelties have certainly taught me lessons about relating to animals and humans - and I cannot help but believe that there is a spark of the divine in our well loved animals. They may not have souls in the same sense as humans do, but dog souls nonetheless. I know that God loves my dogs, and me too. Blessings, Will
 
I am Catholic and I did some research on this, as I am a religious education teacher and I am often asked this exact question by my students.

Let me start out by saying, nowhere in the Catechism of the Catholic Church does it say that animals do not go to heaven. While, you will hear variations from different priests on what their personal opinions are, the Catholic Church does not say that there will not be animals in heaven. What is said is that people have immortal souls while animals have mortal souls.

While reading in Paul, I started to think that maybe animals would somehow be created again, so that it would allow for animals in Paradise. I mean, if it is Paradise.....it would have to have our favorite animal companions in it, right? So, even though animals do not have an immortal soul that can tell right from wrong, such as humans, I do believe that God somehow brings our animals into our own Paradise so that we can feel fulfilled (for those of us that love our animals).

This is an interesting question and something that we just will not know that answer too, until we all meet together in our Paradise :biggrin2:
 
I also am Catholic and I've always been told that only humans have souls and will go to heaven. I think that you should never believe everything you read or hear. My heart tells me that we as humans are no better than any other creature God created. I believe all of God's creations have souls...and if per chance that is wrong....then I want to go where they go....who the heck wants to go to a heaven where you will never hear a bird sing or a dog bark ever again? I know..not me!
 
I have a completely different take on this as I am not a religious person. However, I am a spiritual person. I personally believe that we reincarnate and a dog in this life could have been a friend or relative in another. I believe we often surround ourselves with the same souls in our different lives, but they play different parts. A daughter in one life, a mother in another.

Many people have referred to a specific dog as their heart dog or soul mate. Perhaps he/she was the love of your life in a previous life.

I have a friend in Texas that I went to visit, meeting her dog for the first time. Encore (a female mutt) attached herself to me as though we had been together forever. She wouldn't even go to her mom at night, she stayed by my side the entire time I was there. I'm convinced she knew me from a previous life experience. I always kid that she was my faithful steed during my tenure as a Roman soldier. :) (Joking here!)

I know you all probably think I've lost my mind now, but it's what I believe.
 
And I will take your 'different take' one step further as a non-believer (a 6 on the Dawkins Scale).

I would rather use my limited brain power on asking questions that have answers. Regardless of your opinion, believe, faith, etc., this is a question there is no answer to. I am comfortable with the idea of no afterlife, for humans or animals or any biological being. For many though, I know that prospect is scary.

Either way, enjoy your animals while you have them.
 
Our Shelties will be in heaven

nbrard said:
You put into words exactly what I believe Chris. I am an Anglican, and have always believed that our beloved pets will join us all in heaven.
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I am Anglican also and believe that we will definitely see our Shelties and all our pets in heaven. The ministers at our Church do a Blessing of the Animals every May in the Church parking lot (so all kinds & sizes of animals may attend). The beautiful poem 'The Rainbow Bridge' is a lovely description of our celestial reacquaintance.

I firmlly believe that animals have souls. Our first Sheltie went into kidney failure at age 13. On the evening we set her free from her suffering ... she roused herself to personally acknowledge the four in our family at the Vet clinic where she had been receiving care for 3 days. She looked directly at each of us and kissed our hands to say her goodbyes as we let her go.

Remember ... Dog spelled backwards is God ... a gift from God to be our best friends!
 
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