2 OCTOBER 1999, Page 33

Stitches in Paradise

From The Revd Paul Bland

Sir: If any of us (man or beast) go to Heav- en, it is a matter of God's grace; ultimately it is a mystery 'that passeth all understand- ing' ('Barking dogma', 18 September). St Thomas Aquinas gives a logical and ratio- nal explanation why our pets should be excluded from Paradise but he manages to miss the point completely because he starts with the head and not the heart.

I buried my own little dog in May. A -brass plaque on the plinth in the garden records: Here lies the body of Stitches, who united in the one frail body a fidelity of heart and nobility of spirit rare in animal and quite unknown to man.

Everyone who has ever loved a pet — and been loved in return with the simple, uncomplicated and transparent love that only a pet can give — will know that they are somehow closer to the Kingdom of God than many of us blessed with Reason can hope to find ourselves.

Paul Bland Canterbury College, Kent