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PSYCHIC SIDEKICKS

Dr. D. H. Parsons

When you look at your pet, what do you see?  Who do you see? There’s no doubt that most people gaze upon their cuddly kitties and their floppy-eared pooches with tenderness and affection - not so much out of any compulsion to do so, but out of the pure desire to return love back to another creature who gives so freely of love that such a response comes natural. 

It would seem that beyond mere entertainment, the primary purpose of owning a pet is this exchange of love between human and animal.  But where does the desire for this exchange come from?  To be honest there are some humans who can’t get along with members of their own species for such ridiculous reasons as skin color, hair length, or weight concerns.  So … why is it that even those of such critical bias to their own, can feel love and affection for an entirely different species that comes in a variety of colors, hair styles, and weights?

What is it about pets that allow the barriers to be torn down, biases to be tossed aside, and prejudices to be erased?  Could it be that animals are far more complex on the inside than they appear to be on the outside and they generate some sort of energy that compels us to adore them so?  Could it be that there is something deeper at play here in this strange, so called, “master/pet” relationship?

Consider Jim The “Wonder Dog.”  (The original Jim The Wonder Dog – there have been a few contemporary copies)  Jim was quite a dog, indeed!  In fact, Jim displayed certain characteristics that would seem to set him apart as being something more than a mere “dog.”

Briefly, Jim The Wonder Dog was born on March 10, 1925 in Louisiana.  At an early age he moved to Marshall, Missouri, where his claim to fame began, and where he lived most of his adult life.  Just what was so special about Jim?  Simple.  Consider the following:

Even though dogs are known to be colorblind, Jim was able to pick out specific colors when asked to do so by admiring fans.  He could also locate makes and models of cars when asked.  He could read license plates. He could distinguish between various species of trees.  He would locate local businesses by reading the signs out front.

But such simple tasks as these were eclipsed by Jim’s correctly predicting the re-election of Roosevelt in 1936, the winner of the 1936 World Series, and the winners of the Kentucky Derby for seven years running.  Most amazingly, Jim could respond to questions given to him in French, Italian, German and Spanish.  At one point in his “career” Jim correctly answered questions given in Greek during a Greek class.  Jim was an amazing dog.  He could even correctly identify the sex of unborn infants.

Jim The Wonder Dog lived to the ripe old age of 12 years, finally passing away in Sedalia, Missouri, on March 18, 1937.  He was returned to Marshall, Missouri, where he was buried in Ridge Park Cemetery.  Jim was so well loved the city of Marshall erected a statue in his honor.  The statue has become a national shrine to dog owners everywhere.

Now … everyone knows that animals are more than … well ... animals.  Animals are our pets, our comrades, our confidants and our friends.  And as Jim clearly illustrates, animals are not only very, very smart, they can perform feats of prognostication and mental acuity that defy reason.  But … are all of these predictions and selections the result of hard work on the part of the animal’s  “owner,” or is there something else going on?  Something supernatural.

During the terrible Indonesian tsunami of 2004, even though the death toll among humans was tragically high, the death toll among animals was nearly non-existent.  Why?  Apparently the animals – both wild and domestic- were able to sense something was amiss far in advance of the huge tidal wave that destroyed this region.  When the wave hit, the animals had already found refuge far inland.  How is this to be explained?

Certainly, the most logical suggestion is that animals possess an incredibly evolved set of senses.  It is with these senses that the tsunami animals could actually feel and hear the energies that were being produced by the undersea powers that were being created miles off shore.  This is not so unusual.  It has been proven that many animals have the ability to hear the sound of a tinkling bell several miles in the distance.  Human beings are unable to hear such a sound if it occurs across the street.

During earthquakes it is common for animals to become quite agitated several minutes before the first shock hits our human sensitivities.  I lived in the State of California for 30 years and during that time I experienced many earthquakes of various magnitudes.  During the larger quakes, I can personally attest to the bizarre behavior exhibited by my own cats – who ranged in number from one when I was a child, to fourteen when I lived in Desert Hot Springs, California, as an adult.  It was while I was living in Desert Hot Springs back in the early 70’s, that a large quake hit Los Angeles. I remember now that just before and even during that quake all 14 cats were nowhere to be found.

But is there more to this than mere heightened senses?  Is this a physiological phenomenon, or is there something “psychic” going on?  And where do you draw the line?

Consider the relationships between animals and humans.  There is a popular cliché that has been running around for the past few years that I happen to strongly agree with: “Some of my best friends are animals.”  And there are several good reasons for this.  Animals don’t argue with you about silly things.  Animals don’t insult you when you’re down.  Animals don’t gossip behind your back.  And best of all, you don’t have to “walk on eggshells” when your around your pet – they don’t have the thousands of artificial self-esteem problems humans have fabricated over the past 30 years.  You can just hang around with your pet without any consequences or any bruised emotions.

And perhaps that’s really what endears them to us most – simply that they are such accommodating and loving creatures – even when the accommodation and love are not returned.  There are some cultures in this world that do not treat pets with the same kind of humane treatment we exhibit here in America.  In these cultures dogs in particular are considered to be, at best, slaves.  In some respects they are totally ignored by the human population and allowed to run freely in the streets fending for food as best they can.  In worse case scenarios they are beaten and abused for entertainment and even eaten as a source of food.  Certainly not the way we treat our Poodles here in America.

We Americans have come a long way since man supposedly “domesticated” the first animal.  The “Pet Industry” in America has become a multi-billion dollar enterprise.  Where there used to be only common pet stores housing little baby chicks, a few snakes, some kitties and puppies (and of course the four or five aquariums filled with hundreds of bright colored fish which used to mesmerize me as a child) there are now animal “factories” that churn out thousands of whatever kind of animal anyone might be interested in.  There are so-called “Puppy Mills” – many of which are generating a terrible reputation due to their mistreatment of animals.

The Veterinary business – even though many of these folks truly are in it for the welfare of the animal – is also a mega-industry.  And there are those within this industry who prey off the kind hearts of pet owners everywhere.  Most pet owners, including myself, would give just about any amount of money to see little Fluffy get well.  But the expense is sometimes way beyond the value of the treatment and the means of the pet owner.  The cost for the production of veterinary medicines is not in synch with the prices found on the bottles – so to speak. Prescription medicines for pets are outrageously expensive and visits to the Vet are costing far more than they should. My 83-year-old mother – who is on a fixed income - recently took her little dachshund to the clinic for a simple check up.  At the end of the check up my mother walked out of the clinic with a bill for $243.00!  The Vet, along with her assistant, convinced my mother that “Little Link” needed this and that and just about everything else in the book.  My mother, not knowing any better and nearly in tears out of love for her little friend of 12 years, was so afraid that her little dog would die if she didn’t buy these “extra” products, that she bought the spiel hook, line and sinker.

That story reminds me of the time I drove into a tire dealer to fix a flat.  He insisted that my car had to be raised up in the air and while it was raised up like that he found about 25 different things wrong with it.  The first thing he told me was that he couldn’t repair the flat tire because to do so would throw all the other tires off balance, therefore, I simply had to buy four new tires. Then he said, “Can’t help but notice you need new shocks.”  He also insisted I had a leak in my master cylinder and if I didn’t buy a new one I would be driving the car at my own risk … etc. etc. etc.

I knew a sham when I saw one.  I got in my car and drove away not buying anything from the man.  I pulled into a regular service station and they fixed myflat for free.  Later on I called the national headquarters of the tire dealer and reported him.  I found out later he had been fired and the dealer was now offering “specials” – and a free set of shocks for every 100th customer to come through the door!

The Pet Stores of the 50’s have evolved into mini-malls filled with every possible pet product you can imagine and some that you never would have wanted to imagine.  But of course this is not necessarily a bad thing.  There are those among the Human Species who do not have any Human children and who rely upon their pets to give them similar experiences in affection that perhaps a child would.  This is a valid point of view, for in some respects animals provide an even greater sense of affection than do humans in that there are no strings attached to their affections.  It is a simple matter of love.  Therefore, why should they not be rewarded with the same types of material things a human child might receive, with the added perk that animals do not become attached to materialism in the same way as a child?

Now … back to the psychic abilities of animals.  One question: is it psychic or is it physiological or is it psychological? Where is the line to be drawn?  When your cat starts staring at the wall for no apparent reason, what the heck is she looking at?  When your dog is sitting on the living room floor minding his own business and all of a sudden jumps up with a startled look and begins to stare at the spot he was sitting on as if something had reached up through the floor and grabbed him on his butt … what the heck’s going on?  Are these furry friends of ours seeing spirit apparitions that we are unable to see?  Are they sensing energy and vibration that is far beyond our own human sense capabilities?

And what about the tsunami critters?  What caused them to hightail it into the forest long before the wave hit? Perhaps its something the earth releases just prior to a major catastrophic event that the animals are able to pick up on?  Perhaps the animals have some sort of built in, highly developed, sense-ometer for such things?

During BLISS-PARSONS PARANORMAL INVESTIGATIONS we have often taken note of the fact that even though our sensitive EMF meters, our expensive infra-red DVD cams, and all the other state of the art “ghost stuff” we use may come back from the research lab totally devoid of any physical evidence of paranormal anomalies, throughout the entire investigation, old “Blackie” (the yellow cat) is going bananas at something that is very real for him … but absolutely non-evident to us or our equipment.

Does Blackie actually see something? Does he sense something?  From everything I have read on Ghost Hunting and Paranormal Investigation it is the generally agreed upon theory that ghosts love to taunt and tease house pets.  From my own experience I would tend to agree with this. The good news is that the pets are never harmed by these playful entities.  In fact, what usually happens is that the pet gets bored by the whole thing and wanders off … leaving the poor ghost frustrated I suppose, but no harm done and that’s the end of that.

But is that the end of it?  What happens next? If animals truly are psychic, and they can pick up on such things as ghosts and the like, what are we humans to do with that little tidbit of information?  There is very little research going on in this area – mostly by military or federal government organizations for future warfare purposes, and I am absolutely appalled by this (i.e. training Dolphins to detect underwater bombs or to place bombs underneath ships.)

It is encouraging that there are a growing number of paranormal researchers who are attempting to explore this phenomenon in a fairly professional light, and it is expected that soon answers will emerge that will off-set the perplexing animal-psychic-relationship questions that have been asked for centuries.  I certainly hope this is the case.  Rest assured that as soon as the answers are unearthed, this journal will report them in detail.

For another look at animal sensitivities, see Natalie and the Visitor on our Paranormal Experiences page.

For more about Jim the Wonder Dog visit www.jimthewonderdog.com/index.html .

If you have any interesting animal/psychic experiences of a personal nature I would like to invite you to write them down and mail them to the Institute.  If we mention your particular experience we will use only your first name and your city and state.

e-mail your experience to:

luxmeta@earhtlink.net

or snail mail to:

BLISS-PARSONS INSTITUTE

503 E. Nifong Blvd. #316

Columbia, MO 65201