Apparently, yes, all dogs do go to heaven.

Pope Francis’ recent statement that “paradise is open to all God’s creatures” resonated among animal lovers as affirmation of what they have believed all along.

Toledo Councilman Jack Ford, a non-Catholic, said the Pope’s comment compelled him Friday to move forward with calling for a program he had been mulling over. The councilman, who was once Toledo’s mayor, publicly urged the director of Lucas County Canine Care & Control to embrace giving dogs sentenced to death a second chance and start a pilot program that uses an outside evaluator to help assess the animals.

Mr. Ford, who was joined by councilmen Mike Craig and Rob Ludeman for a news conference, said the pound should consider “a stronger sense of basic fairness,” or due process, for dogs before the canines are killed.

“I would like the dog warden to implement a pilot program for dogs, similar in concept to the guardian ad litem program we currently have for children, that would take the dog warden and her team out of the role of total evaluator, prosecutor, and ultimately executioner, and bring in an individual from the outside to evaluate the dog prior to final disposition of its life,” Mr. Ford said.

The guardians ad litem would be volunteers, he said.

Warden’s opinion

Director Julie Lyle said she did not know of any other shelter that outsources evaluations or has something similar to guardians ad litem for animals. She said the pound has four certified evaluators.

“There’d be absolutely no reason to have outside folks do it when we have the most certified evaluators than any shelter I’ve ever seen,” she said. “I think it’s important that we have trained, certified evaluators that know dogs, and that’s what we have.”

Dogs that perform poorly on any portion of a standard seven-part evaluation used by the pound can be put to death if not saved by a rescue group and taken elsewhere. The three councilmen on Friday said many of the dogs not lucky enough to be rescued from the pound could be rehabilitated rather than killed.

“When the Pope made that comment, that just did it for me. ... There is nothing wrong with being progressive to help any living creature,” Mr. Ford said.

Mr. Craig said many of the dogs evaluated at the pound need a second chance to be tested to see if they are suitable for adoption after working with a trainer or volunteer.

Pope Francis, during a recent public appearance, comforted a boy whose dog had died, saying: “One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.”

Peter Feldmeier, the Murray/​Bacik professor of Catholic studies at the University of Toledo, said it’s reasonable that the Pope’s comment would create buzz.

“The Pope knows how to make formal doctrine and there are forums for that, and this is not a forum for that,” Mr. Feldmeier said. “He was talking to a boy who lost his dog who felt bad. This is a passing comment from the bishop of Rome to a boy who lost his dog. Having said that, if the Pope was quoted accurately, Pope Francis thinks that that is the case.”

Mr. Feldmeier said St. Thomas Aquinas, a priest and doctor of the Catholic Church who lived in the 13th century, said no animals other than humans have souls.

“He is working out of a scientific mindset of the 13th century,” Mr. Feldmeier said. “So now, I don’t think we can make the same absolute distinction that Aquinas did between humans and other mammals.”

Jean Keating, executive director of both the Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates and the Lucas County Pit Crew, said people who know and love animals are well aware of their pets’ souls.

“It’s obvious,” she said. “Humans are animals too. Why would we be given something that wasn’t given to the other animals?”

Heavenly reunions

Pet owners often take comfort in the belief that they will be reunited with their beloved critters for eternity in the form of an afterlife. Will Rogers once said, “If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went.”

“To imagine that an afterlife is exclusive to human beings is really egocentric, and I don’t think God would have created it that way,” Ms. Keating said.

The “Rainbow Bridge” is a common theme among animal groups. It stems from a collection of works by an unknown author that surfaced in the 1980s or 1990s. The storyline entails deceased pets restored to full health and vitality, playing happily together in a meadow in an intermediate world. They wait there for their masters to join them before crossing together into heaven.

“It does make people feel better when they lose a close companion like that, that they will be there waiting,” Ms. Keating said. “Once you’re there, you’ll be together.”

When it comes to running animal shelters, like the Lucas County Canine Care and Control, killing is a reality. More than 1,200 dogs have been killed there this year for a variety of reasons, including poor behavior.

“I work hard every day to try to do the best we can to place all safe animals in loving homes,” Ms. Lyle said.

The three county commissioners noted that while the Pope’s statement has no bearing on the shelter’s operations, it can be taken into account on another level.

“I think it is a guiding principle for us to try to find loving homes for every dog that comes under Lucas County’s care,” Commissioners President Carol Contrada said. “We continue to strive to do that.”

Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak agreed.

“We will do everything we can to give every animal an opportunity for a good outcome with a loving home,” she said. “Even if our Pope didn’t address the issue, I would stand on that premise.”

Ms. Keating said she believes no healthy animal should be killed, but said she understands the need to destroy aggressive ones that pose a risk to people.

“In a perfect world, there are places for every animal to live where they can have a happy existence without endangering the safety of others,” she said. “But we don’t live in a perfect world, so we do have to kill animals that pose a safety risk to humans.”

She said those who kill animals for enjoyment or simply as a matter of course without compassion may go to hell. But she feels those who are genuinely trying to do their best for the animal and for people in the circumstances they are given are not subject to eternal damnation.

“It’s an extremely difficult job to work in a shelter,” Ms. Keating said. “People who have to do those kinds of jobs and make those decisions day in and day out struggle with it every day. Deciding to euthanize an animal should be painful. If it doesn’t hit them in the chest every time, they shouldn’t be in that line of work.”

Nikki Morey, executive director of the Toledo area all-breed rescue Planned Pethood, said Mr. Ford’s idea has merit but also could be tricky.

“I can see elements of it being a great program, fostering community involvement,” Ms. Morey said. “I can also see it becoming problematic. It’s nothing we have ever done before and would take a lot of planning and screening of the volunteers who would be qualified to make such assessments.”

She agreed that some dogs could use a second chance.

“Sometimes, time is all an animal needs to get a completely different outcome from an assessment,” Ms. Morey said.

Contact Alexandra Mester: amester@theblade.com, 419-724-6066, or on Twitter @AlexMesterBlade.

Contact Ignazio Messina at: imessina@theblade.com or 419-724-6171 or on Twitter @IgnazioMessina.

First Published December 13, 2014, 5:00 a.m.