Spiritist Perspectives on Animal Suffering and Pet Euthanasia

Advances in veterinary medicine have extended the lives of many pets, leaving owners to confront painful decisions about euthanasia. Families interviewed describe choosing euthanasia as an act of love aimed at ending irreversible suffering, while spiritual teachings from Spiritism—particularly the works of Allan Kardec—are cited to affirm that animals possess souls and experience pain, offering a moral framework for humane end‑of‑life choices.

A separate doctrinal analysis by Marcelo Caetano Monteiro examines Spiritist literature on animal sensations, referencing the 1860 Revista Espírita and Kardec’s "O Livro dos Espíritos". The analysis argues that Spiritism rejects both materialist views that reduce animals to mere machines and older notions of soul transmigration, instead presenting animals as participants in the universal law of progress, deserving of compassionate treatment.