I guess it depends on what definition of "soul" you choose. If you choose one of the definitions you included in your question, then I guess the "soul" is uniquely human, and that you must have human attributes in order to have a soul.

But what if the physical body is just the form we have chosen for ourselves to inhabit this physical world? You can picture this any way you want. Most people think of their sole as something that inhabits the body, like a ghost, but I prefer to think of the body as a physical projection of our soul.

If the physical body is a projection of our soul into this physical world, then why wouldn't animals also have a soul-like counterpart? We can project a physical body, but they cannot?

In other words, does it make sense for souls to suddenly disappear once you get down to the animal level, or is it a continuum? Maybe animals simply have less evolved souls. Or maybe all souls are the same, except for their vibrational level, and humans are projecting a more complex, evolved pattern than animals.

Ask any owner of a pet, and they will tell you that animals feel the same basic emotions that we do. They may not have the same complexity of inner life that we do, but they are certainly living a life.

I have two ideas & they don't work with each other. But I believe in both ideas as possibilities. I'm not looking to see which the right one is, because I don't care. Neither of these ideas is mine, they are borrowed, & I use the company of both.

1. The soul could be a point of reference within creation that has an energy form with an identity. Which itself has its own divisions within, for multi-dimensional purposes. It’s like the idea of an over-soul overseeing many simultaneous multi-dimensional manifestation expressions.

2. It is a continuous thread of consciousness spanning many dimensions & simultaneously connecting to the Ultimate source of creation at one end, and to you at the other end.

Now, are any of these versions exclusive to humans?

I have heard that even the earth has an overseeing authority in energy form. Is this earth's soul? If we had an exclusive soul & everything else around didn't, It’s easy to exploit everything around, because they are beneath us in the spiritual food chain. But wait a minute. Isn't that already the de-facto standard & justification for so much exploitation & suffering? So maybe for the sake of love & healing we must bless everything around us with a soul presence

no my freind. even cats and dogs have souls, all the true soul is is a true connection with everything he created , here is a quote that i love to explaine god . "God is more than the sum of all the probable systems of reality he has created ,and yet he is within each one of these, without exeption. He is therefore within each man and women , he is also within each spider, shadow and frog, and this is what man does not like to admit. God can only be experianced, and you experience him whether or not u reailize it through your own existance. In the most inexapable truth, he is not human in ur tems at all, nor in ur terms is he a personality. Your ideas of personality are too limited to contain the facitts of his multideminsonal existance,," ................Seth Speks, The Eternal Validity of the Soul...... Channeled by Jane Robberts Recorded by Robbert Butts Material by Seth

see what i mean. the part that explains he is in everything m,eans they to have the "eternal soul" and a true connection with the creator! i think if we were the only ones , it would be pretty l;onely in the after life ! love n light, rob