All dogs go to heaven

It's been said that a dog is a man's best friend. A few weeks ago, I hit someone's best friend with my car. It was late and there were no streetlights. A dog ran in front of my car. Although I slammed on my brakes, I couldn't stop in time. Nothing could be done for the poor animal. I just prayed that he didn't suffer.

I live in the country so there are always dead animals alongside the road. It's usually an assortment of slow moving possums or overweight raccoons. I don't see many dead dogs; the closest being a dead coyote. Coyotes resemble a smaller but raggedy version of a dog.

This was the first time I had ever hit a dog while being the driver. The other time, I was in the passenger seat while my father was the driver. The circumstances were similar.

We were driving down a dark street when a German shepherd ran in front of us. After hitting him, we got out of the car to check for any sign of life. The dog was probably no more than a year old. He was lying on the ground panting away with blood running out of his mouth. I could tell he was in agony.

Another car pulled up behind our car to assist. The driver his sorrow and said he would take the dying dog to a 24 hour veterinarian and have him euthanized. My father and I placed the dying dog onto a blanket in the backseat of the driver’s car.

After both incidents, I wondered if a pet owner was at home worried about what had become of his pet. I am not really sure if all pet lovers care about their pet’s safety since many of my neighbors let their dogs run loose in our subdivision. They never worry about their dogs getting hit by a car.

Many years ago, I had a dog that lived for nearly 18 years. I think he survived for so many years because I kept him inside our yard on a leash.

Some pet owners think keeping a dog on a leash is cruel, but my dog didn't die in agony underneath the wheels of someone's car.

I feel guilty about the death of both dogs. I just hope they are in a better place. A pastor friend of mine said that animals don’t go to the same place as people after they die.

I disagreed with him...I told him that God must love dogs since the Bible mentions them forty-four times.

I told him that all dogs go to Heaven.