Not Even Death Conquers These Loyal Pets

The second story relates the tale of a Norwegian forest cat that had to be put to sleep after diagnosis as a carrier of feline leukemia. As the cat's owners left the veterinarian's office with the empty cat cage in which they had brought the poor animal for euthanasia, they placed the cage in the back seat of their car. Later, whilst driving towards the shelter from which they had planned to pick a new cat that same day, the female owner turned around after feeling a "presence" in the back seat. She was surprised to see the cat sitting in his cat cage as though he were still alive! Of course, they had left the body with the vet, so the cage logically would have been empty, yet there he was--inexplicably--staring back at his owner. The cat remained in the cage until they reached the shelter and went inside, at which point he disappeared. You can read these stories in full at http://members.nbci.com/yonavaa/y8.htm.

Dale Kaczmarek, author of a wonderful essay on ghostly pets, tells the story of a phantom horse seen near stables in the suburbs of Chicago. In order to get to the open areas most conducive to horseback riding from one of the stables, horses and their riders must cross a busy and dangerous intersection. In the past, lack of traffic control led to the death of several horses, and their riders. Since then there have been many reports by motorists of a horse and rider attempting to cross the street, then simply disappearing in the middle of the road. The spectres are usually seen in the evening time, after dusk, and are only witnessed from afar. To read all of Dale Kaczmarek's essay visit http://www.ghostresearch.org/articles/animal.html.

Perhaps the "ghosts" of pets that appear to their bereaved owners are simply a hallucination born of grief. Perhaps they are real, the souls of loved animals that have passed on--and return, one more time, to let their owners know that they're OK. Or maybe, like human ghosts, they are trapped somewhere between this life and the next, and need a little encouragement to continue on their journey. Whatever the reason, stories of the ghosts of pets are much less popular than those of humans, but at least to me, they are no less haunting.

Related links:
This page deals with paranormal experiences & the dog breed "Pugs"