Last week my wife and I brought our 13-year-old golden retriever to the vet to be "put down."
Baker had been a faithful companion, but arthritis and old age had taken its toll. He was likely in daily pain from arthritic front legs and his rear legs bowed out oddly due to damaged ACL's.
He had become nearly deaf and his immobility had limited his ability to climb and descend stairs, a necessity to enter or leave our home. As the vet said, "He is fine from the neck up, but below the neck, well ...." So we made the difficult decision to end his life sooner rather than later.
His final day was decidedly odd. We knew it was his last day on earth, but did he? We had an appointment for 2 p.m. and it seemed strange to be able to know exactly when he was going to die.
His final hour was spent eating dog biscuits and even a jar of baby food while he gradually relaxed due to the tranquilizer administered by the vet. Finally after about 20 minutes of being petted and spoiled, a dose of Phenobarbital stopped his heart.
Baker died at 2:30 p.m. on June 12, 2007.
Baker had been given to my wife, René, as a housewarming gift - three years before she and I were married; so he had been an integral part of our lives, especially for her.
He had survived the ordeal of combining households, of coping with my kids, of adjusting to a new home and the addition of a second dog, Einstein, seven years ago. He did it all in his own style.
He could be a bit aloof, even stubborn. On walks, he chose the direction we would go and he was determined to stop at every tree along the way to check for new scents. Yet, he was a beautiful, even regal dog.
He would lie in the sun, like a male lion, surveying his domain. He was definitely the alpha dog, even as he became more infirm. At times he even seemed to think he was in charge of us too.
But most importantly, he, like so many dogs, was loyal. I doubt that running away ever crossed his mind and his affection for both of us, but especially René was unconditional. And so Baker will be missed.
As humans, we exercise our dominion over animals by making life and death decisions for them. It seems only natural, yet the death of a dear pet seems much more significant than the slaughter of a cow or a squirrel killed on the roadway.
Why is that?
Is it because we have come to "know" our pets, to have learned that they have personalities, to have gained from them? Animal experts tell us that animals do have personalities, that they can be happy and sad and that they experience many of the same feelings we do, sometimes even more intensely.
Jeffery Masson wrote a best seller on the topic entitled,
Dogs Never Lie about Love. A psychoanalyst, Masson reflects on the emotions experienced by dogs from gratitude and compassion to disappointment and sadness.
He even speculates about their dreams. His writing has struck a note with at least many dog lovers.
My wife and I are religious people. We believe God created all things in some miraculous, mysterious way. He created both of us as well as our dogs. Christians, like us, have always maintained that humans are made "in the image of God."
Could it be then, that our pets too reflect at least a portion of God's image? Dogs are known for their undying and unconditional loyalty. Are our pets, especially dogs, perhaps then a gift from God to teach us about "true" loyalty?
Certainly, Baker enriched our lives and we experienced true sorrow when he died. Virtually anyone who has had a pet and seen it die will testify to this fact. Pets can play an important role in our lives and their absence leaves a hole.
So where is Baker now? Most would probably simply say, "Nowhere." "He's gone, he's dead, he's an animal - a beast, when they die, it's over." Yet, many would also say that when humans die, something continues.
The spirit or soul of a person lives forever. Christians believe that when humans die, they go to heaven or hell. But do animals do the same?
As Baker slowly faded, the vet noted that Baker had a "good soul." I'm not sure if she meant that literally, but it made me think. Did Baker have a soul? If in some way he reflected God, does that reflection continue in some mysterious way?
Despite the seeming centrality of heaven and hell in Christian thought, Christians, like most everyone else, are pretty fuzzy on the details of the afterlife. Images of harps and pearly gates or angels or people with wings come to mind, but in truth most of us have very little understanding of what we sense is the destiny of all of us.
My wife and I believe God created it all and he created it good - without blemish. Yet, evil entered, corrupted much of it and today we see a mix. We have no problem discerning the evil and yet we still have many, many images and examples of the good and the beauty of the creation.
Some Christians though, have a much more concrete image of at least heaven and we find ourselves in this camp. We believe that God is going to restore his creation, this earth, and that restored creation will be the heaven of the future. And that creation will again be perfect and complete as God originally created it and like the original Garden of Eden, it will have animals.
The Bible itself suggests this notion in Job 12, speaking of the "... souls of all living things ..." and important Christians thinkers like John Wesley and John Calvin spoke and wrote often about the restoration of the creation. C.S. Lewis, one of the most influential Christians of the 20 th century reputedly believed pets would be found in heaven.
He certainly recognized an important place for animals as evidenced in many of his writings for children which were the basis for the recent movie
Narnia. These men and many others saw (and see) heaven then as far more than a place "somewhere up there in the clouds."
Evan Masson, a non-religious person, grudgingly suggests that dogs possess something like a soul.
So we are back to the question, is Baker in heaven? I don't know. Yet, I believe that our pets are part of a larger picture that this point I can only see dimly. I believe a restored creation will include animals, and perhaps even our pets.
Will every animal that ever lived be in this "new earth?" It hardly seems possible. Yet, as they say, stranger things have happened! Someday, hopefully, our knowledge will be complete.