“A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast…”  (Proverbs 12)

 

To some this may be a rather silly topic to discuss. At one time I would be the one thinking this silly.  Let me preface this article by stating I am not a overly sentimental man, not at all.  I have never been accused of being mushy or gushy, never once. I am on the other hand a sober and grave minded servant of God. That does not mean that I’m cold or withdrawn either.  The point is, this article is not being written by a sappy, over-emotional dog lover. In fact, with the exception of my dog, Dr. Watson and my mother’s dog, Miss Maddie,  I am more of a cat person….maybe even a fish person.

I began wondering about dogs and their eternal state when I was studying psycho/sociopaths.  The psy/soc-path is an individual that is free of a conscience. This individual does not fear, feel, or ever experience remorse or sorrow. These individuals lost their conscience through incomprehensible childhood abuses or as it is with the psychopath, he was born without a conscience or through the damaging of the frontal section of the brain. A person can become a psychopath by damaging that frontal section even as an adult.

When you look at animals and insects, you find this same behaviour in some species. When a snake births a brood, the young snakes are on their own, the same with spiders. There exists no motherly bond once the offspring is birthed/hatched. Of course with other species there is a very paternal and nurturing aspect. Primates are paternal as are lions.

When it comes to dogs however, it’s different.  Dogs show remorse, dogs do care for their offspring, and they do have a high intelligence. Dogs do become a special part of a family.  Dogs care for their family by keeping watch and warning away trespassers.

Evolutionists say that these are learned traits so that they will be fed and cared for. The so-called scientist ….how will these scientist feel when Christ returns?  All their work and effort is proven wrong and their work will stand as a witness against them….moving along…these scientists tell us that the dog does not feel any remorse at all if it does wrong, the feax or false remorse is an evolutionary trait. This fake remorse is used so that we will continue carrying for the dog and feeding it.

Our other choice is, God created the dog with the ability to feel remorse which speaks to a conscience and dare I say, a soul?

I used to hear persons say, “the dog is a member of our family,” and I would think what non-sense it all is.  I was a fool answering a matter before hearing it.  (9) nine to (10) ten years ago I gave Dr. Watson to my wife for Mother’s Day.  I have come to see this dog as a friend. Watson seems to understand me very well, he get’s my moods, ie. he knows when not to bother me or interrupt me. When he was younger, he would have accidents when we were out for a few hours. We would arrive home to see Watson in a state of remorse. This is not evolutionary as there is no such thing, this is genuine, “I’m Rorry.” Watson can show happiness, boredom, he can communicate his wants and needs to me.

If dogs do go to Heaven, they too, will need a changed body, as I do not think dogs will be doing business on streets of gold or along the banks of a chrystal sea.

As the titles of this article state, this is nothing to be dogmatic about, it’s a thought….but, why not?

Is it okay to pray for a pet?
It is always okay to pray for a friend or a loved one, even in animal form.
A syllogism:
* The Bible tells me to cast my cares upon Christ for He cares for me.
* I care for my pet
* Therefore, the care you feel for your pet can be cast upon Him, for in caring for you, He cares about what you care about.

An Analogy:
When we travel we ask God for traveling mercies, ie. vehicle runs well, we drive safely, we are protected from other drivers, etc.
In Scripture, there were no cars. They rode beasts of burden, like mules, donkeys, horses, and camels. When Joseph and Mary were traveling to Jerusalem, do you not think they prayed for their beast?

Anything one cares for can be mentioned to God.

Godspeed