He was greeted at the pearly gates by St. Peter, who asked the veterinarian to testify for himself and recount the events of his life, both good and bad.

The vet supposed that he should be honest, and began to speak. “I’m afraid I wasn’t always a perfect man. I had a horrible temper in my youth, and would often get into violent brawls with other young men. During one of these fights, in fact, things became so heated that a large bookshelf fell on my left leg, which had to be amputated below the knee.” At this, he pulled up the hem of his robe to reveal a prosthetic leg.

“However,” he continued, “I grew out of these violent outbursts soon after, and devoted my life to the well-being of animals. Not only have I worked tirelessly as a veterinarian for decades, I also invented a unique, environmentally-friendly chew toy made from the fur of livestock. My patients have told me that these creations work wonders for their dogs’ dental hygiene. In fact, I think I have a couple of these little chew toys here in my pocket. You can look at them if you’d like.”

The vet fished two small balls of leather and hair from his pocket, and handed them to St. Peter.

St. Peter examined the pair of objects in his hand, then looked back up to the man’s prosthetic leg. After glancing back and forth between the two several times, he pressed a button on his desk, and the gates to heaven swung open.

“Oh, thank you!” the veterinarian cried, overjoyed. “But if I might ask, how did you end up deciding to let me in?”

“It’s simple,” St. Peter replied. “Your fur chews outnumbered your shins.”