One of the most painful memories of childhood for many of us is the loss of a pet. At a young age we are forced to confront the impermanence of things and death. Unlike the death of a loved one which carries with it the hope that you will be reunited one day with them, the death of a pet brings with it nothing but questions. Is Spot in heaven? Will I be able to pet Tabby again? Parents struggle to come up with an answer, mostly because we do not know the answer ourselves. Will our pets be in heaven?
Let us first frame the question properly by clearing up what can be a source of confusion. All living things have souls, that is, there is no such thing as a living being that does not have a soul. A soul is the animating principle of all living things. There are three types of souls that exist in a nested hierarchy: vegetative, sensitive, and intellectual. Each of these has specific functions. The vegetative soul is concerned with growth, nutrition, and reproduction; the sensitive soul is concerned with locomotion and perception; the intellectual soul is concerned with rational thought. These are nested in the sense that anything that has a higher degree of soul also has all of the lower degrees. All living things grow, nourish themselves, and reproduce. Animals not only do that but also move and perceive. Finally, man does all of the above in addition to reasoning. What distinguishes man’s soul from the other two is the fact that it is a spiritual soul. The fact that it is spiritual in nature doesn’t just mean that it has no parts and is incapable of being destroyed, but also that it is subsistent.
The Subsistence of the Human Soul
The concept of subsistence is important for our question and therefore bears some further explanation. Subsistence of the human soul means that it can exist apart from the body. How do we know this? The human soul may depend upon the body for some of its operations, but not all. It is capable of activities, specifically rational knowing and willing, that do not depend upon the body for their operation. Therefore if the body ceases to function as such, the soul can stilll operate. On the other hand, an animal soul because it depends completely upon matter to operate (such as seeing, sense knowledge, etc.) and has no operations apart from the body, it ceases to exist once it is separated from the body. “The operation of anything follows the mode of its being” as St. Thomas says—a thing with no operation has no being, that is, it no longer exists (c.f. ST I q. 75, a.3).
Death means the separation of body and soul and occurs when the body is no longer sufficiently organized to allow the soul to act through it. The human soul because it is subsistent continues in existence as a knowing and willing substance (we say that it goes to heaven or hell). The animal soul, lacking subsistence ceases to exist and the specific animal with it. Animals do not go to heaven because there is no animal left to go to heaven.
Not the End of the Story
Most people will find this explanation extraordinarily cruel. Animals are not people, but they are not just “things” either. We can develop a healthy attachment to them, especially because many seem to develop a certain individuality to them. But this is not the end of the story because heaven is not the end of the story. All too often we forget or overlook the last thing we are told in Scripture—we are not just trying to go to Heaven, but to be included in the New Earth. Although we are not told much about this New Earth, we know that we have experienced it in sign in this world. How can we assume this? Because St. Paul says that “all creatures groan and are in travail, awaiting the revelation of the glory of the children of God” (Rom 8:21-22). All of creation will be delivered from the servitude to corruption at the Resurrection of the Body.
It is the Lamb that is the light (c.f. Rev 21:22-23) in this new world so that we see all things in creation in His light. The meaning of creation and its capacity to magnify the glory of God will be fully realized, allowing man’s senses to fully participate in beatitude. “”By the greatness of the beauty and of the creature, the Creator of them may be seen, so as to be known thereby” (Wisdom 13:5). While we may be told specifically that there are animals in the New Earth, it is a reasonable assumption that there are. What this would look like may be difficult to say. God could reconstitute each of the individual animals by uniting form and matter or, more likely (at least in my opinion), He would have each individual species such that the individual animal contains all individuals within that species. Because our love will have been purified, seeing God in all things and loving them for His sake, our purified love for Spot or Tabby will be directed to this one dog or cat. In this sense we might truthfully say that our pets enter into glory with us.
Parents often struggle with coming up with a truthful answer when their children ask whether their pet is in heaven. The answer is no, but this is not the end of the story. They will see their pet again in the New Earth. This answer helps to articulate an important, and oft-overlooked, truth of the Faith—the creation of the New Earth. And in this regard, it can offer both solace and an excellent teaching opportunity.