An ABCNews/Beliefnet poll found that 43 percent of Americans believe pets go to heaven, and only 40 percent believe they don't. In heaven "the lamb will be with the lion," notes Dan Pegoda, cartoonist of "Dogs Who Know the Lord." One heavenly mutt may be Preta of Sobrado, Portugal, who is teaching humans new tricks. Every Sunday for three years she has walked 16 miles to church, leaving her home at 5 a.m. Lisbon newspaper Correio da Manhã says she even stands and sits along with the congregation.

See the ABCNews story on the poll that asked whether pets go to heaven.

For more on animals and Christianity, see Stephen Webb's "Do All Good Dogs Go to Heaven?" which appeared in the January/February 1999 issue of Christianity Today sister publication Books & Culture. Preston Jones also reviewed Webb's book On God and Dogs for Books & Culture.