My personal opinion is that the Bible was written to reveal God to man. It therefor has little information on how God views the rest of creation. If you had to communicate something to an ant, how much info would you include in the message?
I don’t know the fate of animals, but I’d be very surprised if God doesn’t love them too. What provisions He has made (or not made) for them is something we won’t know until we get there ourselves. However, I won’t be surprised if heaven has a LOT of animals. Heck:
Balaam, the Donkey, and the Angel
22 Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 Now the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road.
24 Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. 25 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again.
26 Then the Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”
29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”
30 So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?”
And he said, “No.”
31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face.
32 And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me. 33 The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.” - Numbers 22
Notice: “Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey...” Not, the Lord put speech into the donkey’s mouth, but the Lord OPENED the mouth of the donkey!
I ride horses frequently. If one ever speaks to me with human speech, I’ll probably be too dumbfounded to converse. But it does suggest something lies beyond what some theologians see...
There also seems to be subtext of “pay the heck attention to what your animals are telling you”.
Humans, particularly today, are heavily inclined to ignore their own intuition and peripheral perceptions.
A snake spoke to Eve and she was not even mildly surprised by that.
IMO, there was a time when animals spoke but no longer do.
Perhaps God, in His infinite mercy, struck them dumb because it would break our hearts if we could hear them, now.
After the flood;
The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.
Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you.
Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.
And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting.
I will demand an accounting from every animal.
And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.
Why would God demand an “accounting” from animals if they had no souls and were therefore, not spiritually accountable?