The Late R.C. Sproul's View on a Pet's Afterlife

Losing a pet can be a devastating thing for some when it newly occurs - even if they may have moved on months later with a new pet. Somebody in church may have posted that when a dearly departed brother or sister in Christ died that the pet dog died next. Somebody said that it was a good thing that the pet dog died and that said departed person will be happy to see that pet again with the Lord. Then I was thinking of that time I read Robert C. Sproul's book called "Now That's a Good Question" where he wrote this one:
I can’t answer that question for sure, but I don’t want you to think for a minute that it’s a frivolous question. People get very attached to their pets, particularly if the pet has been with them for a long time. In our present culture more and more pet cemeteries are appearing, and we see people going to great expense and ceremony---gravestones and all---to dispose of the bodies of their pets. 
Within the Christian church there are different schools of thought on this issue. Some people believe that animals simply disintegrate; they pass into nothingness and are annihilated, which is based on the premise that animals don’t have souls that can survive the grave. However, nowhere does Scripture explicitly state that animals do not have souls. 
The Bible tells us that we have the image of God in a way that animals do not. Now is the “image of God” what differentiates between a soul and a nonsoul? Those who take a Greek view of the soul---that it is this substance that continues indestructibly forever---may want to restrict that to human beings. But, again, there’s nothing in Scripture I know of that would preclude the possibility of animals’ continued existence. 
The Bible does give us some reason to hope that departed animals will be restored. We read in the Bible that redemption is a cosmic matter. The whole creation is destined to be redeemed through the work of Christ (Rom 8:21), and we see the images of what heaven will be like; beautiful passages of Scripture tell us about the lion and the lamb and other animals being at peace with one another. Whenever heaven is described, though it may be in highly imaginative language, it is a place where animals seem to be present. 
Whether these are animals newly created for the new heavens and the new earth, or they are the redeemed souls of our pets that have perished, we can’t know for sure. All of this is sheer speculation, but I would like think that we will see our beloved pets again someday as they participate in the benefits of the redemption that Christ has achieved for the human race.

This could have anyone thinking that of God's grand plan one way or another. It's highly possible that God will one day revive everything that's died in the New Heaven and the New Earth. Everything is made new. It's possible that one way or another that beloved pets will also be included in this grand scheme. I was thinking about how the lion and the lamb will be together. So this may be a picture of God reconciling creation to itself. Lions and lambs are naturally enemies yet they don't need a Savior for salvation. It's humans that need the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. Yet, there's somehow no reason to believe God won't restore animals too when the New Heaven and the New Earth will be there.

But there is one comfort for the Christian pet owner. In the glorified body - he or she will no longer have any enmity with God. In fact, whatever God's decision may be about the afterlife of pets - the Christian is guaranteed that they can be in perfect acceptance of said decision. Yet, it's possible to believe that God would restore the pets of believers too in the afterlife out of His great love for them.