When pets occupy a spiritual space

doweshowbellyad=0; Bond between humans and animalsAnyone who has ever cared for a pet dog, neighbourhood cow, kitchen cat or horse at the riding club will verify French writer Anatole France's statement that "Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened".
The emotional bond between humans and animals is easily accepted. With its uncomplicated nature and unconditional love, an animal can expand the boundaries of the human heart.But are animals also deeply connected to the human soul? Like many philosophical systems, Hinduism gives animals prime of place.
One of its chief gods is elephant-headed and another is a monkey. Shiva and Vishnu have several animal incarnations. Anthropologically, animals were useful to humans; they were likely given the status of gods to impress their importance upon the general people. Moreover, since all creatures are considered manifestations of the same paramatma, animals necessarily gain a position of equality with human beings.
Hinduism's approach towards animals is not simply utilitarian and rational. Animals occupy a spiritual space that seems to originate in feelings of companionship, affinity and kinship. Take for instance the relationship between Rama and Hanuman.
Similar 'pairings' of gods and animals pervade Hindu mythology. Every deity has a vehicle or vahana: the eagle Garuda for Vishnu, the mouse for Ganesha, the Nandi bull for Shiva, the lion for Durga, and many more. The animal associated with each deity represents both the positive qualities of the deity - like the bullish strength and virility of Shiva - as well as the energies and qualities that the deity vanquishes, like the vanity reined in by Skanda while riding his peacock.
Do animals thus function as spiritual doppelgangers? The idea is evident when Yudhisthira is accompanied to heaven by a faithful dog at the end of the Mahabharata. The dog, it turns out, is a physical embodiment of Dharma, the virtue Yudhishthira kept close to him through his life.
In ancient Egypt, animals were considered reincarnations of gods and were worshipped. Native American religious traditions assign one of nine animal guides to every person to provide spiritual direction in this life and the next. In Christianity, traditionally, no spiritual link is created between animals and humans. Therefore, it is interesting to consider contemporary fantasy writer Philip Pullman's trilogy titled His Dark Materials, which is usually read as a reinterpretation of Milton's Paradise Lost.
In Pullman's fantastical reality, every human has an animal companion called a 'daemon' who is actually the human's externalised soul. Trying to distance humans from their daemons causes unbearable physical pain and is nearly impossible. The daemons of children keep changing their forms. After puberty, a daemon takes the unchanging form of one animal, whose personality traits match those of its human. This symbolises the shift from childish innocence to adult reconciliation and knowledge. In Pullman's work, the spiritual link between animals and humans is complete. Why do many philosophies deem animals to be alter egos of humans?
Is it because the uncomplicated natures of animals lend themselves easily to being typecast and so function effectively as symbols? Or because animistic traditions attach spiritual significance to all natural forces? Perhaps the faithfulness of animals allows poets to use them as metaphors in the image of god and devotee.
Is there a rational, intellectual explanation, an emotional bond or really a spiritual connection?
For the simplest answer, just ask someone who has ever loved an animal.