All animals, including pets, are souls. The Hebrew word for soul is נֶפֶשׁ or “nephesh”. Nephesh is translated in many different ways by most Bible translators. These differences hide the original meaning of the Hebrew text.
However, the Rotherham Bible is an especially accurate, word-for-word translation. Consider Rotherham’s translation of Genesis 1:20-25, “And God said-Let the waters swarm with an abundance of living soul, and, birds, shall fly over the earth, over the face of the expanse of the heavens. And God created the great sea-monsters,-and every living soul that moveth-with which the waters swarmed after their kind and every winged bird-after its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them…And God said-Let the land, bring forth, living soul, after its kind, tame-beast and creeping thing and wild-beast, of the land, after its kind. And it was so…And God saw that it was good.” This proves that all the earthly animals are souls.
Man is also a soul. Genesis 2:7 (Rotherham), “So then Yahweh God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed in his nostrils the breath of life-and man became a living soul.” The creation of man defines a soul as a body plus the breath of life.
God calls Himself a soul in Leviticus 26:11-12, “And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.”
If a being’s body can decay and die, then that same soul can end existence and die. When the body dies and loses the breath of life, the soul ceases to be. Ezekiel 18:4 (NKJV), “Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.”
While all people are guaranteed a resurrection, animals are not. (See Romans 5:18.) So, let us cherish each moment we have with our beloved pets. And when they die, claim the promise in Psalm 119:76, “Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant.”