JANN - What happens to beloved pets in the afterlife?
JOEL - The scriptures tell us that God created the spirits of
all living things before they were created naturally
on the earth:
"And now, behold, I say unto you, that these are the
generations of the heaven and of the earth, when they
were created, in the day that I, the Lord God, made
the heaven and the earth.
And every plant of the field before it was in the
earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For
I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have
spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon
the face of the earth." (Moses 3:4-5)
Anything that has a spirit and a physical body will
eventually die causing separation of the physical from
the spiritual.
The scriptures also say:
"For since by man came death, by man came also the
resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be
made alive." (1 Cor 15:21-22)
Anything that dies involving separation of body and
spirit will again be made alive or resurrected,
including all animals.
"For all old things shall pass away, and all things
shall become new, even the heaven and the earth, and
all the fulness thereof, both men and beasts, the
fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea;
And not one hair, neither mote, shall be lost, for it
is the workmanship of mine hand." (D. & C. 29:23-25.)
President Joseph Fielding Smith said:
"Animals do have spirits and that through the
redemption made by our Savior they will come forth in
the resurrection to enjoy the blessing of immortal
life."(Answers to Gospel Questions, vol. 2)
The Prophet Joseph Smith was asked this question:
"What are we to understand by the four beasts, spoken
of in the same verse?" (i.e., Revelation 4:6.) His
answer is as follows:
"They are figurative expressions, used by the
Revelator John, in describing heaven, the paradise of
God, the happiness of man, and of beasts, and of
creeping things, and of the fowls of the air; that
which is spiritual being in the likeness of
that which is temporal; and that which is temporal in
the likeness of that which is spiritual; the spirit of
man in the likeness of his person, as also the spirit
of the beast, and every other creature which God has
created." (D&C 77: 2-3)
Again when commenting on the Revelation of John, the
Prophet said:
"John saw curious looking beasts in heaven, he saw
every creature that was in heaven . . . actually
there, giving glory to God. How do you prove it? (See Rev. 5:13.
) "And every creature which is in heaven,
and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are
in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying,
Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power,
be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the
Lamb for ever and ever."
Joseph Smith also said:
"I suppose John saw beings there of a thousand forms,
that had been saved from ten thousand times ten
thousand earths like this,—strange beasts of which we
have no conception: all might be seen in heaven. The
grand secret was to show John what there was in
heaven. John learned that God glorified Himself by
saving all that His hands had made, whether beasts,
fowls, fishes or men; and he will glorify Himself with
them.
Says one, "I cannot believe in the salvation of
beasts." Any man who will tell you that this could not
be, would tell you that the revelations are not true.
John heard the words of the beasts giving glory to
God, and understood them. God who made the beasts
could understand every language spoken by them. The
four beasts were four of the most noble animals that
had filled the measure of their creation, and had been
saved from other worlds, because they were perfect:
they were like angels in their sphere. We are not told
where they came from, and I do not know; but they were
seen and heard by John praising and glorifying God."
(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 291-292.)
Animals are living souls, but we need to remember
their place in God's kingdom:
"The Lord has said that not only has man a spirit, and
is thereby a living soul, but likewise the beasts of
the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the
sea have spirits, and hence are living souls. But this
does not make them kinsmen to the sons and daughters
of God. They are our Father's creations, not his
offspring, and that is the great
difference between man and beast." (Doctrines of
Salvation, vol. 1, Bruce R. McConkie, Joseph Fielding
Smith)
According to all these comments and scriptures we know
that animals have souls and will be resurrected and be
found in heaven, but we don't really know which level
of heaven they will be in after the resurrection.
One might reason that since animals primarily live on
instinct and can't conscienciouly commit sin; they
therefore fulfill the measure of their creation, like
the earth does (D&C 88:25), and sould inherit the
Celsetial kingdom. Or perhaps we may see them
represented in all the kingdoms.
President Joseph Fielding Smith made a rather
speculative comment about this:
"As to where the beasts, birds, and fish, and all
other creatures will go after the resurrection we can
only express an opinion. John saw many of them in
heaven in the presence of God. It is very probable
that they, like mankind, will be distributed in the
various kingdoms, celestial, terrestrial, and
telestial. We may well believe that in each of these
kingdoms such creatures will be assigned." (Answers
to Gospel Questions, vol. 2)
Obviously "all dogs go to heaven", and I assume they
will be in the Celestial kingdom; the rest I don't
know about.