Animals

[JcDean78]

This might seem like a silly topic but I have never heard about a position from the Church on what happens to animals when they pass on.

Are animals,like dogs, simply organic machines that are here to be with us while on earth only or since they are alive do they too continue on in some way?

I ask because we recently lost a very beloved dog who was very much part of the family. My mother, who is a non member, was asking about going to Heaven and if our dog would be there waiting for us.

Personally, I would like to think the answer is yes but I have absolutly no understanding of how animals fit into any sort of plan nor do I know if such answers have ever been given to us.

Does anybody have any insight into this or perhaps some opinions for discussion?

[havejoy]

I believe our pets will go to heaven.
There is an interesting article at lds.org about this very topic. If you go to the website and do a search for "Will Robins go to Heaven" you can read it.

[Aphrodite]

My Dad always told me animals have spirits and will go to heaven. makes sense, they are innocents like children. I hope so because I love animals.

[inthearmsofsleep]

I believe that we'll be reunited with our animals just as we will be with our family members in the afterlife. I know they have spirits, and I know they are innocent.

[Maya]

Yes I believe they do so treat animals well, so they cant testify against you! Funny seems like buddhist have a better knowledge on the animalsthan we do.... Some of the animals do have the funktion to feed us though....

[JcDean78]

Well this has been very uplifting. Thanks for the story on lds.org especially!

[MissouriBoiler]

I believe all living things have a purpose in life(I include the earth as whole as a living thing... I know that sounds funny but I have my reasons.) In my eyes if a dog fulfilles its purpose in life it will have a state of glory or purpose in the next life just like us. (Just they are not the same glory or purposes.)

I look forward to reading the article mentioned.

[Misshalfway]

Originally Posted by havejoy

I believe our pets will go to heaven.
There is an interesting article at lds.org about this very topic. If you go to the website and do a search for "Will Robins go to Heaven" you can read it.

I searched under "animals resurrection" and a bunch of articles came up.

I don't think this is a insignificant question at all. I love my animals. Some of them feel like they are a part of my family. Why wouldn't I want to see them all again?

[Traveler]

Originally Posted by JcDean78

This might seem like a silly topic but I have never heard about a position from the Church on what happens to animals when they pass on.

Are animals,like dogs, simply organic machines that are here to be with us while on earth only or since they are alive do they too continue on in some way?

I ask because we recently lost a very beloved dog who was very much part of the family. My mother, who is a non member, was asking about going to Heaven and if our dog would be there waiting for us.

Personally, I would like to think the answer is yes but I have absolutly no understanding of how animals fit into any sort of plan nor do I know if such answers have ever been given to us.

Does anybody have any insight into this or perhaps some opinions for discussion?

I believe it is important to recognize the difference between animals and people and not get either mixed up. G-d gave man dominion over animals and has commanded man to love his fellow man as himself. It is most foolish to seek dominion over other people and have love and compassion for animals. We can and should have compassion over animals but not the same love and compassion we should have for children and neighbors.

To be honest I am disappointed with the value some have for their children when they consider animals as like members of their family. I grew up with deep respect for my childhood dog that saved my life. But that relationship is not the same as my eternal partner and wife to whom I am married to for eternity nor my children and parents to who I am sealed to for eternity.

I would also point out that it is man that is fallen not animals. Animals need no salvation or saving ordinances – they were not excommunicated from the garden of G-d nor have they violated G-d’s commandments.

The Traveler

[tubaloth]

This is about the only answer I have heard from the church

Question: "Do animals have spirits? If so, will they obtain the resurrection, and if so, where will they go?"
Answer: The simple answer is that 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. The Bible as it has come to us through numerous translations and copies does not contain the information concerning the immortality of the animal world in the clearness which, without any doubt, it was invested with the pure inspiration of the revelations of the Lord. However, there are some passages which still remain bearing witness to the eternal nature of the animal world. Among these are the following:

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. . . .

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,

And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. (Genesis 2:1, 4-5.)

Then, before death came upon the world, the Lord planted a garden for Adam and Eve and placed all manner of cattle and living creatures on the earth, as well as vegetation. When Adam transgressed the commandment, all things upon the earth became subject to death, as well as Adam and Eve, and the earth itself partook of this fall.

In the restoration of the original scriptures to the Prophet Joseph Smith we are given a clearer picture of conditions both before and after the fall. This is the account as it was written by Moses:

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. For I, the Lord God, had not caused it to rain upon the face of the earth. And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air;

But I, the Lord God, spake, and there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. (Moses 3:4-6.)

Then to make the matter perfectly clear, the Lord added this:

And out of the ground made I, the Lord God, to grow every tree, naturally, that is pleasant to the sight of man; and man could behold it. And it became also a living soul. For it was spiritual in the day that I created it; for it remaineth in the sphere in which I, God created it, yea, even all things which I prepared for the use of man; and man saw that it was good for food. . . . (Ibid., 3:9.)

When the Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith many things concerning the millennium and the events which should precede and follow it, he gave the following:

And again, verily, verily, I say unto you that when the thousand years are ended, and men again begin to deny their God, then will I spare the earth but for a little season;

And the end shall come, and the heaven and the earth shall be consumed and pass away, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth.

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. 29:22-25.)

While meeting with a group of the members of the Church one day in March 1832, 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. (Ibid., 77:2.)

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."

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.)

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.
(Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 5 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1957-1966], 2: 50.)