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You're listening to Episode 203 of Jimmy Akin's Mysterious World,

where we look at mysteries from the twin perspectives of faith and reason.

In this episode, we're talking about whether animals have an afterlife.

I'm Dom Betanelli and joining me today is Jimmy Akin.

Hey Jimmy.

Howdy Dom.

Most children have had the experience of loving a pet and when a beloved dog or cat passes on,

the child grieves at the thought of never seeing the pet again.

A common question the children have is whether they will see their pets again in heaven.

In some circles, a common opinion is that they won't, that animals don't have an afterlife.

But is that really true?

How good are the arguments used for that position and is there any evidence that animals do in fact

survive death?

Well, that's what we'll be talking about on this episode of Jimmy Akin's Mysterious World.

So Jimmy, do you have a personal connection to this topic?

Well, like lots of people, I grew up with pets and I have fond memories of them.

My parents preferred us to have lower maintenance animals like cats and fish, so we mostly had those.

At one point, I also kept wild box turtles that I'd caught and then trained to eat out of my hands.

When they were hungry, they would crawl up and then gently, gently bite on my fingers to let me know

...