Paranormal Pets: “The Haunted”, only on Animal Planet

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Paranormal Pets: “The Haunted”, only on Animal Planet
November 29, 2009
by Cherlyn Gardner Strong
TcusonCitizen.com

Animal Planet is the latest cable network to offer a weekly series focused on the paranormal. This show, which premiered last Sunday, is called The Haunted.

This 10-part series presents true stories of paranormal pet experiences. The show’s tagline: “If animals believe, should you?”

Some of the program’s segments feature pet owners who believe that their deceased pets have come back to haunt them. Other segments interview people who believe that their living pets have experienced brushes with dead people (or demons). In these segments, the pet owners serve as witnesses to this ghostly phenomena on behalf of their pets.

The show is entertaining, especially for paranormal enthusiasts who also love animals. Re-enactments involving animals supplement each segment. It presents the stories as they are told and some of the stories do get you thinking.

The basis of the contemplation stems from the fact that some animals do appear to sense certain things that people cannot. Some animals can sense when a person is about to experience a seizure. Other animals appear to sense earthquakes, weather changes or even disasters, before the events occur.

In Indonesia in 2004, before the tsunami disaster, eyewitnesses observed elephants running to higher ground. It is said that many other animals were observed exhibiting odd behavior just prior to the tsunami. Many human victims of the tsunami, on the other hand, did not grasp the visual cue of the giant wave forming (ocean water receding from shore). Mainstream science does not venture often into the paranormal, but scientists have studied the so-called sixth sense in animals.

The Haunted isn’t Ghost Hunters, for sure. Jason and Grant, and most paranormal investigators, decline cases where the family pet serves as the primary eyewitness to paranormal phenomena. I think, however, that a dog would be a fine addition to any paranormal team, due to their acute senses. I would take Fido along on a ghost investigation if given the chance. The K9’s reaction might be more sensitive than that K2 meter, as an effective ghost hunting tool. My canine would have to exhibit more bravery than Scooby Doo, though.