As It Stands: Pet Psychics prey on people who are desperate

UPDATE BELOW

By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard

Posted: 08/29/2010 01:28:55 AM PDT

I love animals, and hate to see pet owners exploited.

I'm not referring to owners who buy organic pet food, or those who take their animals to a regular veterinarian to assure their health, or who buy expensive toys for their pets. I'm not even talking about people who fly their pets on specialty airlines (http://www.petairways.com).

Those scenarios seem perfectly reasonable if you have the money and the inclination. If you love your animal, and millions of Americans do -- to the tune of $47.7 billion in 2009 according to American Pet Products -- then the expense seems justified. Non-pet owners may disagree and shake their heads. I say to each his own, as long as there's mutual respect and no one is being cheated.

With that established, I want to share where I draw the line between “reasonable” as mentioned above, and expenses that are really elaborate rip-offs.

When someone tells you they can find your missing animal because they talk with the pet's spirits/energies, you will become a victim if you buy it. If they claim to talk with dead animals or to heal your pet's illness by touching them, smile, wish them a good day, and slowly back away.

I searched the web for a good example of a pet psychic/communicator and came up with Ellen Kohn (www.enlightenedanimals.com). Her beautifully laid out website offers numerous psychic services for pet owners.

Kohn recently completed an accredited program and received her Spiritual Counseling Degree. I'll go into where you can get such a degree shortly, but first, let's examine what she offers pet owners:

According to her website, she has communication skills that help track lost animals; she talks with live and deceased animals; she can heal animals by touching them; and she solves any emotional traumas or imbalances your pet may have. Move over Dr. Doolittle.

Kohn can hold long distance “chats” via a meditative process and uses crystals for (you guessed it) clarity and perception. She writes everything down -- any questions you may have -- and follows up with phone consultations with owner and pet. These consultations can last for months.

Kohn also employs the 38 Bach Flower remedies created by British physician Dr. Edward Bach in the 1930s. Where did Kohn learn this and stuff like Spirit-to-Spirit Communication? This ability to chat it up with dead animals doesn't just happen after a vision or something.

You have to go to a special place like the Gurney Institute of Animal Communication (www.gurney institute.com/main.html), to find the answer. After working in the “field” for 20 years, Carol Gurney established the institute in 2008. Since then, she claims she has trained “thousands” of animal pet psychics/communicators.

Does all this sound a little “off-kilter” to you? You're not the only one. Joe Nickell, a senior research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (www.csiop.org/), says pet psychics are a rip-off. Nickell, a self-proclaimed full-time paranormal investigator, claims he's seen it all in 40 years of research. He prides himself on knowing all the tricks used on the pet psychic's clients. You might say he's a modern day Houdini (who loved to expose fraudulent people psychics) on a 21st century mission.

Nickell calls the pet psychic's approach with clients “the art of fishing for information.” He explains that cold reading, a technique where the psychic asks questions instead of stating facts, makes general statements and watches for body language clues, is an important tool in the pet psychic's box of tricks.

Simply put, the pet isn't going to give anything away. The pet psychic really reads the owner. The people who are vulnerable to these psychics are grieving pet owners, or desperate people with pets that in need a physical miracle.

I don't think all pet-psychics are intentional frauds. There are some who really think they're helping. The tipping point is money. If none is required, then you can safely explore without being exploited.

As It Stands, if there's one thing I'm sure of it's the special bond between pets and their owners. It is no different than the bond between humans; called love.

UPDATE: Websites that have picked up this column

The Book of Throth Paranormal Research and Discussion

Skepticator – Skeptical Content For Everyone

NewsPlurk United States News & Search Aggregator

Google News – Top stories

NewsDay –A Florida publication

 Bulldada Newsblog – The High Weirdness Project

Twitter – By Free Psychic

India Times online publication

The Cult News Network –online publication

News Feed Research – More than just a news feed

PetShipper - Welcome to Pet Shipper Pet Transport, Animal Travel, the Pet Travel Directory. Pet Air Travel Advice. Pet Shipping Agents, Pet Transport.

Pet Lolled net articles

This crazy world: Lennon's toilet sells for $14,740 at auction

 'I think it's the most unusual item we've ever  had in our auction'

Hard to believe someone paid this much for a crapper – even a famous one!

Lennon image source

toilet photo source

Attack ads surpass 2006 levels as November draws near

It's not even Labor Day and negative political ads are muscling in on your TV time. Across the country, ad spending is up and attack ads lead the way.

“As of this week, candidates for state and federal office had spent $395 million on ads for the November elections, compared with $286 million at this point in the 2006 midterms. More than half the ads have been negative.”

Pet Psychics – do they really talk with the dead and heal all sicknesses with their hands?

Coming Sunday Aug. 29th in The Times-Standard:

As It Stands explores the murky world of pet psychics who perform miracles. They can talk with your pet via the phone (just provide a pic of the pet), or find your lost pet. They dredge up spirits of past pets and even tell you what they were reincarnated as in case you want to continue your relationship with that special pet.

 

Judge: Video game addiction suit can go on

Player claims he is unable to bathe, dress himself or wake up in the day due to 'Lineage II'

“A Hawaii man who says he is unable to bathe, dress himself or wake up in the day because he is addicted to the video game "Lineage II" may proceed with his suit against the game's South Korean developer, a federal judge has ruled.”

Image source

Be sure to watch the sky tonight – it will look like we have 2 moons

UPDATE : this turned out to be a viral hoax.

Sorry about that…. 

Tonight the Whole World is waiting for...

the planet Mars to be at it’s brightest.

It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye tonight when it comes within 34.65M miles off earth.

 The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

Elder financial Abuse: Stealing from Grandpa and Grandma

What will happen when you die?

Who will get your personal belongings and whatever money you have?

Do you even care? Should you care? Do you have a will? Even if you do, will it be carried out like you intended?  

The story plays out thousands — perhaps hundreds of thousands of times — every year across the country, a scourge of old age

“America's vulnerable, graying population, and the concentration of wealth among older adults, has created a massive opportunity for fraud. Hard statistics are not available, but experts suspect that perhaps half a million elderly adults are ripped off by family members, lawyers and accountants every year, potentially taking $2.6 billion from infirm older Americans. The crime is known as elder financial abuse. Financial expert and consumer advocate John Wasik has called it "the crime of the 21st century."

Image source

Want to be class president? Not if you're black, in one Miss. school

Mother moves her family after learning about segregation in class elections

It’s hard to believe such blatant racism is tolerated today, but as this article points out, it’s just the way things are in Nettleton Middle School in Nettleton, Miss. The fact of the matter is racism is rampant in America today, and to prove my point look at Glenn Beck’s plans for this weekend (see Post below). 

Beck and Palin to lead ‘extreamist’ rally – they have a dream, but unlike King, it’s only for wealthy white America

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Beck’s bogus “God inspired” idea to overshadow Martin Luther King’s famous speech is based on nothing more than prejudice and hate. Beck loves the limelight and has no trouble calling Obama a racist or anyone else. It’s the pot calling the kettle black – but Beck seems to get away with it. At least with his rabid followers who want to “take America back!”

We're about to crash, jet passengers told in error

'They said the pilot hit the wrong button'

A while back I wrote a column about flying in airplanes and how I dread the experience.

I can just imagine if I’d of been on this flight!

Revenge of the Cat: ‘Cat Bin Lady's’ Internet infamy grows

The Internet abhors a cat dumper.

Never was that sentiment more clear than in its ongoing outrage over the infamous "Cat Bin Lady" of Britain, who made international news after video captured her petting an unsuspecting cat, then incongruously dropping the friendly tabby in a nearby garbage bin.

Gawker's Adrian Chen, himself a victim of the /b/board Internet horde, reports on 4chan's rapid identification and dissemination of the woman's identity, including her name and contact information, as well as that of her employer. Fitting, considering 4chan is responsible for the LOLCat phenomenon enjoyed by the general Internet population today. As was the case when 4chan targeted adolescent viral video star Jessi Slaughter,