Heaven's Surprising Policy On Pets

A woman and her dog were walking along a road. The woman was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to her that she was dead.
 
She remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside her had been dead for years. She wondered where the road was leading them.
 
After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble... At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When she was standing before it she saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.
 
She and the dog walked toward the gate, and as she got closer, she saw a woman at a desk to one side. When she was close enough, she called out, “Excuse me, where are we?” 

”This is Heaven,” the woman answered.
 
“Wow! Would you happen to have some water?” the traveler asked.
 
“Of course. Come right in, and I’ll have some ice water brought right up.” The woman gestured, and the gate began to open.

 ”Can my friend come in too?” the traveler asked, gesturing toward her dog.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t accept pets,” the gatekeeper replied.
 
The woman thought for a moment, then turned back toward the road and continued the way she had been going with her dog.
 
After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, she came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence.
 
As she approached the gate, she saw a woman inside, leaning against a tree, and reading a book.
 
“Excuse me!” she called to the woman. “Do you have any water?”
 
“Yeah, sure, there’s a pump over there, come on in.”
 
“How about my friend here?” the traveler gestured to the dog.
 
“There should be a bowl by the pump...”
 
They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.
 
The traveler filled the water bowl, took a long drink herself, then she gave some to the dog.
 
When they were full, she and the dog walked back toward the woman who was standing by the tree.
 
“What do you call this place?” the traveler asked.

“This is Heaven,” she answered.
 
“Well, that’s confusing,” the traveler said. “The woman at the place down the road said that was Heaven too.”
 
“Oh, you mean the place with the gold street, and pearly gates? Nope. That’s Hell.”
 
“Doesn’t it make you mad for them to use your name like that?”
 
“No, we’re just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.”