Do animals have souls? - Stories that prove they have and share the same empathy we do (or should)

Very nice thread. S+F. It was put together very well. I enjoyed the read, and I'd have to say I'm inclined to believe animals do have souls just like humans. Some people do not agree of course and make some interesting points as well.

I remember reading this "spiritual" aimed mainly at the concept of the human soul but it also touched on animal souls and the authors beliefs on that subject. My aunt had gotten the book for me after I had a bad accident an was hospitalized for a couple months. I believe it was called "Seat of the Soul". I could be wrong it was a long time ago. Going on 12 years now

Anyway...the authors stance on animal souls compared to human souls, was that each animal does not have has it's own individual soul like humans do. The author believed that each animal's soul was a small part of a single collective soul. Like there's 1 single Dog, (or canine?) soul, and only one. and every dog is just a piece of this single larger soul.

It was a strange theory, don't really know how the author came about the theory, again I only read the book once and this was back in 2000. But yea the theory was each human soul was comparable to say the single "canine soul". I guess the author was trying to place a big emphasis on how human souls not only outnumber animal souls billions to 1 for each animal "soul" I guess somehow this made a human life and death extremely important. The book was geared toward existence after death through the soul ect... I didn't really agree with that one theory in the book, but some others I remeber being good.

But saying only humans haveing individual souls while every other creature was just a small part of a single soul. Like 1 soul for fish, one for cats, and one for bears ect. But each human had a soul that was comparable to the single large "cat soul" It seemed very egotistical to me, that way of thinking, trying to make the human soul to be more important. But I remember it being an ok read it was a short book, and it had some good ideas, this collective animal soul thing was just not one of them in my opinion. Like I said at the start I believe animals, and all living creatures have souls. Maybe there is a pecking order, like the soul of an ant might be smaller and less significant than that of a Human who knows, maybe not, but I do think each creature has it's own individual sould. I can't agree with an animal "Collective Soul" theory.

Didnt read the whole thread, just the OP-

Im convinced animals have souls, and they are not below humans.
It's a matter of observing them and realizing how intelligent they are.

Its sad they are used & abused by humans in different ways. but hey, thats human nature. Use and abuse for its own sake.

Anyway, I love animals and they are beautiful beings that can teach people more than they can imagine.:

reply to post by whenandwhere


This is a wonderful story I remember from years ago. Enjoy!

Man and his dog go to Heaven

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.
When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'

'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered. 'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.

Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.'The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveler asked.

'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence.

As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'

'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in...'

"How about my friend here?' the traveler gestured to the dog.

'There should be a bowl by the pump.'

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.

The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

'What do you call this place?' the traveler asked.

'This is Heaven,' he answered.

'Well, that's confusing,' the traveler said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'

'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.'

'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?' the old man asked.

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'

redbirddog.blogspot.com...

reply to post by gigaherc


Prominent scientists sign declaration that animals have conscious awareness, just like us
>>>Link

Great post thanks for taking the time and effort OP, maybe one day man will give animals the respect they deserve.

reply to post by betheflow


Good article. I'm surprised there was no mention about the neurons/brain cells found in the heart that directly correlate/communicate with the the brain stem/pineal gland/pituitary gland. "To lead from the heart". Heart transplant recipients are known to have marked personality traits that were not present pre-transplant. This is not a theory but a medical fact. There are case studies on this, google on if necessary. Also, posthumously at the moment of death; last beat of the 'heart' it has been proven that the body loses 22-23grams, I believe, which could be ascribed to the plasmic soul (holding everything together) leaving the body. The body then entropizes at an exponential rate, primarily with aid of bacteria, microbes, IN the body which reside in the body in a symbiotic way. I believe around 30% of the physical human body is made up of these symbiotic bacteriums/microbes.

reply to post by Nyiah


Every time I relate that story to somebody it brings a tear to my eye. I feel like I let my shep husky down by not taking her and allowing her to say goodbye to her friend. I spoke with my vet about it and he said that I should have brought her, because animals understand death and perhaps she would have not greived so much.

In those three weeks when she wasn't eating and moping around I was afraid we would lose her to.This experience totally convinced me that animals are as soulful as we are. They may not understand the world as we do, but on their level they understand far more than we give credit for.

To relate another short story. After the loss of my shepard. I got a gordon setter from the local shelter. He was full of the devil and was never the friend to our shepard husky that the shepard had been. However he was my best buddy. I took him everywhere with me and he was a great dog. Incredible personality.

At the age of 7 he came down with an inoperable cancer. The vet said that at that time he was not suffering, but the time would come and we should keep him as comfortable as possible. We took him home and I continued to play ball with him and spend time with him cause I knew that his time was coming. About 8 months after his cancer diagnosis, I was outside with him and he suddenly was having trouble with his back legs. I took him in the house and he sat down on the floor and looked me right in the eye and let out the most mournful Rooooooo I had ever heard from him. He was telling me that his time had come. I called the vet and took him in. I held him in my arms as the vet administered the shot and as he went out he never took his eyes off me till he was gone.

This dog and I were so close that after he was gone I didn't get another one for several years, and when I did 4 years ago I got another gordon setter. This one has bonded with me just like the last one did and we are inseperable. He's my buddy just like my last one. The personalities are so similar that I could swear that he's almost the same dog. I'm on the fence about reincarnation. Sometimes when I look into his eyes I could swear that my other dog is looking back.

A few years ago I went to Lilydale, a town of spiritualists in my area. Now I'm not really a believer in that stuff, but I met a medium there who said that I must love animals, because their spirits surround me. That really took me back. This person then proceeded to describe my dogs and cats who were no longer alive. Her descriptions were accurate and I was suprised. I had never met this person before and she had no way to know what my former pets looked like. Yet she described each one to a T. I have no explaination for this. But it makes me wonder.

Originally posted by Iamschist
Beautiful thread. I do not know if animals have souls, but I am positive they have hearts in the same way we do. They love and remember and grieve, just like we do.

Hint: We do not know whether humans have souls also..we can believe..but we do not *know*

reply to post by gigaherc


If you take care of something that has some intelligence, it will copy you because you are caring for it.

That's why you see them caring.

The only other kind of caring comes from evolutionary necessity in mammals.

Souls are out of no where. There's not reason to assume why something with empathy has a soul, likewise that something without, does not.

Great thread, this is the stuff I love about ATS.

My dog Donner loved pancakes, My moms dog Dudley would never touch them. after Donner died Dudley pretty much immediately adopted the love of pancakes with the same drooling zeal that Donner had for them. I don't know if this speaks to them having a soul(I believe they do, even if its more of a "group" soul, and less of an individual soul) , but Something beyond the mere 5 senses was going on. that I'm positive of.

Very beautiful thread. S & F.
I do think that animals have souls, and that we shouldn't dismiss it. I see everywhere horrifying things done to animals, even wild ones, and i don't understand how we can't be horrified.

I agree with you about not interfering with the personal beliefs of others, but as a whole, I will openly attack a "doctrine" of belief, because I know that to be the source of what these people believe. For instance, I always attack Islam, for teaching that anyone who isn't a Muslim basically is a lower form of person, and shouldn't be allowed to live.

I also dislike Judaism for similar reasons, what they believe about others, but mainly because of the violent teachings of the Old Testament, which we all know they base many of their beliefs on. I have never really given Christianity as much grief, mainly because the New Testament, which they model their beliefs after, is much more mellow when compared with these other "Abrahamic" religions.

People will say that it doesn't matter that their doctrine teaches these things, because they don't abide by them. That is bullcrap if I've ever heard it. Why would you cherry pick out of what is supposedly the word of God, ie the Bible, or any other religious text? That makes absolutely no sense at all.

Anyone who mistreats an animal is a POS, plain and simple. Domesticated animals are trusting and look to humans for care. People should never abuse that trust. I don't think whether or not animals have souls should even be the basis for how they are treated, ever...They should be treated with respect and dignity, just like any other living creature.

reply to post by gigaherc


It is a downer and people don't like to discuss it because it is so uncomfortable but I think we need a review of our animals rights laws. I think we need to strengthen penalties for acts of deliberate cruelty for many reasons.

1. If we do not these acts are bound to escalate in occurrence and severity. Small children are inured to violence from a young age and just hearing of these actions and crimes against animals imbeds the crime in their forming brains and gives it "permission," lessens the horror factor and causes the child to become callous rather than sensitive.

2. The measure of a society is how it treats its weakest members, elderly, handicapped, children and animals.

3. If it were a criminal offense with strict penalties to treat an animal cruelly I think it would go a long way toward preventing acts of cruelty toward children or other human beings. Eventually our sensitivity toward each other would improve if we were not allowed to treat even animals that way.

4. As you say animals have souls, empathy, they can be heroes. They have many traits we did not know they had when we formulated the laws we have right now to protect them which are grossly inadequate to the point of being negligent. If the laws are not modified to reflect new information about the beasts we share the earth with and the intelligence and value of domesticated animals - we should be able to charge agencies responsible for overseeing these areas with criminal neglect.

I never understood how the most heinous, brutal and terrorizing human has more rights and stronger protection than a loving and loyal stalwart protector just because the loving protector cannot speak.

Someone posted a photo of two teenage boys brutalizing a puppy while mugging for the cameras.
Though most of us are horrified, there are people who see that sort of thing and decide it is a good idea. Though I am sure posting the photo was intended to bring the perps to justice, it will more than likely inspire copycats who harm more puppies today.
It sickens me physically. I am sure others too are affected severely by images of this type we are seeing more and more. For this reason I think laws need to be tougher. We cannot be exposed to this sort of horrific, senseless violence on a daily basis without becoming inured to violence ourselves, and that would be a genuine tragedy.

Let's make it such a tough punishment, that people DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER IT for fear of getting caught. I know there will still be some who harm animals but it is possible and easy to curb about 70% of the crimes if a hand slap were not the punishment. Tougher penalties will stop kids stealing beloved pets and animal abuse from becoming an epidemic or a new craze, like bullying or planking.

LET'S WORK TOGETHER TO STOP IT NOW!

reply to post by lonegurkha


Your Avatar has the Right hand over the left.
Symbolic though speaks volumes of words.
L8ter.

S&F!

I see animals as being very wise, intelligent, and spiritual.

It takes me a lot to cry and have empathy towards others...but when it comes to animals I get so emotional...and it kills me every day knowing somewhere in the world, animals are being abused T_T

I wish people would view animals as more human than dirt.

I would think anyone with a dog would know animals have souls.

I am not sure about what soul is, but, some animal species simply love us, cats and dogs, for an example.
That is 10,000 yrs, or more, long friendship and partnership, a kind of...



F.a.e., The Ancient Egyptians worshipped Cats, and they survived, meaning, biologicaly, what is evil in cats, they are lovely creatures, and hunt mice, f.a.e.

reply to post by Bluemoonsine


And what exactly would be those words?
My avatar was given to me by a friend here on ATS.
I don't think that there was any meaning intended.
The reason I kept it is I rather like it.

This made my heart melt and was exactly what I needed to see this morning. If you have ever owned pets, you eventually come to the realization that they are just as smart as you and I! I have two dogs and one cat. They all have their own unique personalities and quirks. If these photos and videos don't convince you, I suggest you go get a pet! Also, of course they have souls. Do you think God (I'm using God as a general term, substitute with your own belief, but honestly it's all the same) would give the gift of awareness without a soul? That's just cruel!

reply to post by lonegurkha


Why not? Marxism, for an example, is not religion, but, Christianity is, and Islam is, too, and many more.
Forcing anybody to convert, that is not Marxism, that is opresion. F.A.E.

www.consource.org...