Come the Rapture before the end of the world, now scheduled for May 21, 2011 , Bart Centre will be busy rounding up the true believers’ pets.

So far, 225 of them have signed up for his service, Eternal Earth-Bound Pets.

For $110 (U.S.) a pet, Centre and his 37 fellow sworn atheists will span out across 24 American states to collect the dogs and cats, birds and one ferret whose owners have shed this mortal coil and ascended into the afterlife.

“Most of the people who have contacted us have a strong faith that the Rapture is real, evangelical fundamentalist Christians from the Midwest and South,” says Centre from his home, a log cabin in New Hampshire.

“Of course, they’re pet lovers and they tell me this has been on their mind for some time. This, to them, has been, so to speak, a godsend.”

Centre guarantees them a 24-hour rescue for their soulless, abandoned pets and the opportunity to renew their 10-year contract at a discount, should the Rapture be delayed.

A retired senior retail executive, Centre created his pet-rescue service after writing The Atheist Camel Chronicles, which includes a chapter on the Rapture when true believers will be saved and everyone else and their pets left behind.

“No one has more fundamentalist Christians than the U.S. So there could be 20 to 40 million pet-owning, Rapture-believing Christians out there. I thought, ‘There must be a way to service their concern and make a financial profit’.”

So far, it’s been a bit disappointing. He gets a lot of “not very nice emails” from Christians who don’t trust atheists or think they can take their pets with them. Plus, he muses, “I’m not sure an awful lot of Christians believe in the Rapture.”

Still, he and his team have cleared some profit. The takings are divided among the 38 of them each month.

He also gets a lot of emails from sworn atheists who want to help, including a “surprising” number from Canada.

Business may pick up, he figures, as the Rapture and then Doomsday, on Oct. 21, 2011, draw near.

“We’ll be increasing our rates sometime before the end of the year” to anticipate the rush.

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And what are his plans post-Armageddon?

“I’ll be right here.”