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Monday, October 28, 2002
Area Writer Sure Cats,
Dogs,
And All Animals Go To
Heaven
By Stacy Milbouer
The
Telegraph, Nashua, New Hampshire
To paraphrase Oprah, this
is what Niki Shanahan knows for sure. She will be seeing her dead cat Pete again
– in heaven. And she’s also sure that other pet owners will be greeted on the
other side by Fido, Fifi and Felix.
Shanahan’s conviction of her beliefs is reflected in title of her book – “There
is Eternal Life for Animals: A Book Based on Bible Scripture.”
The Tyngsborough, Mass., resident doesn’t think there’s a heaven for kitties and
pups, she knows there is. And she uses passages from the Old and New Testaments
to “prove” it to anyone who might have doubts.
The 49-year-old part-time administrative sales assistant had no intention of
writing a book meant to comfort bereaved pet owners. But last year, when her
21-year-old cat, Pete, died of kidney failure, she sought confirmation for what
“I knew all the time in my heart to be true. My father died 40 days before Petey
died. I knew what happened to people when they die, anyone who has faith knows
that people go to heaven – that there’s an afterlife. But then my cat died and
the whole animal thing when it comes to heaven is different. The thought growing
up was that heaven was for humans, that’s it.”
The Bible was a natural place for Shanahan to turn, having grown up with a
father who was a part-time Pentecostal minister. And in this case, she said, it
didn’t let her down. She found numerous passages that she interprets to be a
clear message from God. That not only are “beasts” precious and beloved by God,
but that they also have souls and hence a passport to the hereafter.
Shanahan was delighted to rediscover this in Psalm 36:6 – “Thy Righteousness is
like the great mountains: thy judgments are deep: O Lord, thou preservest man
and beast.”
“It doesn’t get any clearer than that,” she said. “We know animals and people
aren’t preserved in this life so it must refer to an afterlife.”
In the book she writes of this passage, “The Lord will save, liberate and
deliver man and animals! To me, this verse is one of the most powerful and
revealing affirmations regarding the fate of man and animals. It is most
illuminating!”
Shanahan’s big brown eyes don’t blink. This is a woman who’s sure.
Through the grieving period for her father and her pet, Shanahan collected more
and more of these discoveries in religious writings and one day she told her
husband she felt they would make a great book for others who had lost a pet.
The 115-page self-published book is divided into 12 chapters that explore, among
other subjects, how much animals really know, “eyewitnesses” of animals in
heaven, praying for animals and the last chapter “Eternal Life for People.”
But the book opens with a page-long dedication.
It begins, “I dedicate this book to my son, Pete the cat. Pete is in heaven
today with Jesus. I have tremendous love for him and I miss him terribly . . .
Pete belonged to Jesus. I told him all about who Jesus is . . .”
It’s funny when I told people about this interview and the article I was about
to write on a woman who authored a book about pets going to heaven, there was
pretty much a consistent reaction among pet owners regardless of their religious
beliefs.
“Of course my cat (dog) is going to heaven, who ever doubted that?” After all
isn’t the “Pet Psychic” a hot television show on Animal Planet? Don’t people pay
for others to “read” the minds of their silky terriers to see if there’s any
hidden angst?
Then I asked the really important question: “What about cockroaches and water
rats?”
“Oh no, no, no,” said my friends. “There’s a separate heaven for that.”
Shanahan has given the matter a lot of thought.
“I don’t know about bug heaven,” she said, “but I do know that everything will
be different up there. Animals won’t be attacking each other. We’re told the
‘Lion will lie down with the lamb.’ Before sin – before Adam and Eve, everyone
was a vegetarian. People didn’t kill animals for food and animals didn’t kill
each other. And that’s how it will be in heaven.”
When thinking about marketing her book, Shanahan immediately thought of
neighboring New Hampshire.
“I had done research that indicated that New Hampshire is one of the most
pet-friendly states in the country. According to the Humane Society, it has the
lowest pet euthanasia rate in the country. The town of Derry is designing a
special park for dogs and there is a state Take Your Pet to Work Day (June 21).”
The Humane Society for Greater Nashua is currently selling Shanahan’s book, as
is amazon.com. It can also be purchased by e-mailing the author at
eternalanimals@comcast.net
Since its release four months ago, 250 books have been sold. And I can see why.
As I write this, I’m looking into the big brown eyes of my 104-pound Labrador
retriever, Mikie. Those eyes do look soulful. And honestly I can picture the
halo. And it certainly is a comforting thought. But then the mind races – eons’
worth of dog poop from every Spot that ever lived. I’m thinking cloud
pooper-scoopers and angel fleas (would they have two sets of wings?)
Granted, I haven’t made up my mind about the whole human heaven thing, never
mind the critter one.
“Well, you have to have faith to begin with,” Shanahan reminds me. “I have the
faith. I know Pete’s up there now with my father and brother. I can’t wait to
see him again.”
If she gets impatient, the author need only look at the cover of her book, which
prominently features Petey, lying in her bed, his head on her pillow, staring
straight into the camera.