Psychic pets and pet psychics - Investigative Files

Mediums like Edward and Van Praagh occasionally mention a per--usually a dog--in a reading. Given the Barnum effect (discussed earlier), this usually gets a hit. For instance, on Larry King Live (February 26, 1999), Van Praagh told a caller: "I'm also picking up something on a dog. So I don't know why, but I'm picking up a dog around you." Note the vagueness of the reference--not even an indication of whether the animal is dead or alive or what link it might have to the person. But the caller offers the validation, "Oh, my dog died two years ago."

Some pet psychics, like Christa Carl, conduct "seance readings" for animals who have "passed over." Asked to give an example of such a seance, she replied (in Cooper and Noble 1996, 102):

Brandy, a dog, had been placed in a kennel by her owner when she got married. She broke away from the kennel and got killed.

Her owner called me and told me she was having a hard time and wanted to communicate with Brandy. When I did the reading with Brandy, I learned from her that she didn't know why she had been put in the kennel. She had felt abandoned, unloved, uncared for.

Her owner should have told her ahead of time why she needed to put her in a kennel. I explained it to Brandy, and now she's at peace.

Of course, there is not the slightest bit of evidence that the spirit was contacted or that, in fact, it existed anywhere other than in the imagination of Christa Carl and, of course, the dog's grieving, guilt-ridden, and credulous owner.

Such seems invariably the problem with claims involving psychic pets and pet psychics. Based on anecdotal evidence--wonderful tales of psychic and mediumistic success--they are not supported by scientific investigation.

References

Baker, Robert A. 1990. They Call It Hypnosis. Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 179-182.

Christopher, Milbourne. 1962. Panorama of Magic. New York: 0Dover, 8-37.

-----. 1970. ESP, Seers & Psychics. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 39-54.

Cohen, Daniel. 1984. The Encyclopedia of Ghosts. New York: Dorset Press, 137-149.

Cooper, Paulette, and Paul Noble. 1996. 100 Top Psychics in America. New York: Pocket Books, 97-113.

Fitzpatrick, Sonya. 2002. The Pet Psychic. Animal Planet channel, March 7.

French, Christopher C., et al. 1991. Belief in astrology: a test of the Barnum effect. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 15:2 (winter), 166-172.

Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. 1991. Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical & Paranormal Experience. New York: HarperCollins, 22-25.

Hyman, Ray. 1977. Cold reading how to convince strangers that you know all about them. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 1:2 (Spring/Summer), 18-37.

Jay, Ricky. 1986. Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women. London: Robert Hale, 7-27.

Leigh, Gerri. 1992. Appearance on The Jerry Springer Show, March 16.

MacDougall, Curtis D. 1983. Superstition and the Press. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 532.

Nickell, Joe. 1989. The Magic Detectives. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 9-12.

-----. 2000. Aura photography: a candid shot. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 24:3 (May/June), 15-17.