Q. Does my pet have a soul?
A soul is the engine of life; it is the “I” that holds the ‘body’ together. Every live creature must have a soul to give it life and allow it to function. Not only living creatures have souls, everything that exists must have a soul.
A soul is not just the engine of life; it also embodies the why of a thing's existence, its meaning and purpose. It is a thing's "inner identity”, its raison d'être. Just like the 'soul' of a musical composition is the composer's vision that energizes and gives life to the notes played in a musical composition—the actual notes are like the body expressing the vision and feeling of the soul within them. Each soul is the expression of G‑d's intent and vision in creating that particular being. That is why we should be careful not to destroy anything without purpose. Doing so will be killing its soul.
Human beings however, have a unique soul that is different to the rest of creation. While every creation has its own soul; a purpose and mission for which it was created, most creations take a passive role in fulfilling their mission. They do not have the ability to fully comprehend and appreciate what their mission is; neither can they choose what to do to fulfill their destiny.
The human soul was created in the image of its Creator the source of each soul. The soul a person has a unique G‑dly energy allowing it to view the larger picture. The human’s unique soul makes it not a pawn but an active player. It can recognize its soul; its purpose and goal and choose how it will work to reach that goal. A person can use the objects around them in fulfillment of their purpose, bringing the souls of those objects to their own goal. We can therefore help the soul of our pet (and everything else we own) reach its own destiny by leading it in the fulfillment of a greater spiritual vision.