In the last section, I reviewed how we have unanimous attestation from mediums, both general and evidential, that animals exist in the afterlife. I will now turn to two other aspects of mediumistic evidence: one scientific study and a large number of specific, evidential cases.

Scientific Research

Surprisingly, there is one scientific study on this subject. I say “surprisingly,” because it is very difficult to fund and conduct controlled, scientific research on mediumship related to human beings, let alone animals. The materialistic paradigm that dominates science means that funding for this type of research is pretty much non-existent, and that investigators risk their professional reputations by engaging in it. And that’s just for studying human afterlife — forget about studying animal afterlife. No one’s doing that — or so I assumed.

Turns out, Dr. Julie Beischel and her enterprising colleagues at Windbridge Institute conducted a study on this. Dr. Beischel has been investigating mediums for decades (see her book, Investigating Mediums) and uses very controlled experiments that help to rule out a range of alternative explanations.

Here is Dr. Beischel’s summary of the study and its results: 

Using a full-blinded protocol similar to that employed to test mediumship accuracy during readings for deceased people, exploratory and ongoing research has demonstrated that some mediums can report accurate and specific information about deceased companion animals as well.

(Beischel, J., 2012). Anomalous information reception by credentialed mediums regarding non-human animal discarnates. Presented the study at the 31^st Annual Meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration in 2012

What that means is, mediums can get reliable information about deceased pets, which they could not have known through normal means. Where are they getting the information? Given that the controls she uses rule out alternative explanations, Dr. Beischel believes that the most reasonable explanation is that the mediums are getting the information from the deceased individuals (human or in this case animal) on the other side.

Granted, this is just one study, and good science would require much more than just one study. But I was surprised to find it, so I wanted to convey it here. It lends some support, however provisional, to the idea that some mediums can bring through specific, accurate information about “deceased” pets, and that those animals have an afterlife existence.

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Specific Evidential Cases

I came across 91 specific, evidential cases regarding animal afterlife. In each of these cases, the medium is provided specific and accurate information that he/she couldn’t have known through normal means.

Slyvia Barbanell reports 30 evidential cases in When Your Animal Dies. The animals included not just your usual assortment of dogs and cats, but a one-eyed monkey, a donkey, a parrot, a cow, and two frogs named Adam and Eve.

Here is an example:

A medium told a woman that she saw the spirit of a blue-eyed, bearded man whose name was William. He gave the time of his passing. He brought with him a dog with a bandaged paw. She could not catch the dog’s full name but said it began with the letter ‘R’.

The woman confirmed that William was her father’s name, and the medium had correctly described his appearance and date of death. The dog was Rex, and while Rex was alive on Earth, his paw was frequently bandaged because he suffered from blisters between his toes.

Slyvia Barbanell, When Your Animal Dies

Here is another example.

Stella Hughes was a well-established evidential medium in the UK.  In one case, she described and gave the name of a dog, Rags, to a woman.  The name was verified.

She then told the woman that Rags had been run over by a butcher’s van.  The woman shook her head and said no, she had “no knowledge of that happening.” 

When she returned home later, the woman learned that, in her absence, Rags had been run over by a butcher’s van. 

Sylvia Barbanell, When Your Animal Dies

Kim Sheridan reported 10 evidential accounts in her book, Animals and the Afterlife.  One case involved a woman named Tres, who had a dog who passed away. Tres described herself as “having always been a ‘Doubting Thomas’ about near-death experiences, the afterlife, etc.” However, she experienced signs of her dog’s presence after his death, and that prompted her to open her mind. She decided to attend a public mediumship reading.

Tres reported:

I spoke to no one and knew no one there, so there was no way anyone knew anything about me. I was the third person chosen by the medium, and she said a few things that were correct [….]  

Then she said, “I want you to know that dogs and other animals go to the other side.  I tell you this because you love dogs and there is a very large one standing behind you with her paws on your shoulders right now.  You have been talking to her picture every day and weeping.  She said she had her own chair in your house and not to cry; she is with you.” 

Well, that was it.  I broke down and sobbed uncontrollably.

Kim Sheridan, Animals and the Afterlife

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Elena Mannes, who has won 18 awards for journalism, went from atheist to believer, thanks to her departed dog, Brio. She relates give evidential accounts in her book, Soul Dog.  In this example, Elena is speaking with an animal communicator, Dawn, following the death of Brio.

I told Dawn nothing of the last days with Brio, nothing of my experience during those last moments of his passing.

“I sat under a little tree and ate roast beef” were the first words out of Dawn’s mouth.  “He enjoyed the moment,” she went on.  “He wants you to feel him there in that spot.” 

I’d said nothing about how I had in fact sat with Brio in the yard and fed him an entire pound of roast beef. 

Elena Mannes, Soul Dog

Lucky guess? Elena is a hard-nosed, skeptical journalist, and she began as an atheist skeptic. However, after visiting several different animal mediums, all of whom provide specific, accurate information that they could not have obtained through normal means, she becomes convinced of Brio’s survival.

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Harold Sharp, a UK medium, reported 6 evidential cases in Animals in the Spirit World.  This case involves a friend of his, Sarah Chester, who had a dog, Jumbo, who died. Sarah died a short time later.

Harold wrote:  

Sometime afterwards, I had a sitting with Mrs. Neville [a medium], who said, “There is a woman here, and she is about 60 years of age.  She is saying ‘Chester’ – that is probably her name or the name of the town where she lived.  She has a big shaggy dog with her, she calls him Jumbo.  And she is dressed in tweeds and is just off for a walk with her dog.  My word, they are an energetic pair.

Harold Sharp, Animals in the Spirit World

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Other Accounts

In addition to the sources mentioned above, other evidential accounts can be found in the following:

• Karen Anderson, The Amazing Afterlife of Animals and Hear All Creatures
• Scott Smith, The Soul of Your Pet
• Margrit Coates, Communicating with Animals
• Bill Schul, Animal Immortality
• Suzanne Northrup, Everything Happens for a Reason
• Carol Gurney, The Language of Animals
• Elliot O’Donnell, Animal Ghosts
• Rob Gutro, Pets and the Afterlife

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Recap

Here is a brief recap of the evidence from mediums:

Mediums attest to animal afterlife. Mediums have consistently reported that animals show up in readings and exist in the afterlife. I am not aware of any exceptions to that. These attestations stretch back two centuries and encompass hundreds of mediums. They come not only from general mediums but also from evidential mediums, many of whom have demonstrated an impressive track record of reliability and credibility.

One controlled, scientific study. Granted, it is just a single study, but it is surprising that there is even one. The study employed rigorous controls and supports the idea that some mediums can bring through evidential information about “deceased” pets, and that animals have an afterlife.

Specific Evidential Cases. I found 91 of these cases in the published literature, although I’m sure there are other cases out there. I shared a half dozen examples. I encourage you to investigate the sources I cite, if you’d like to read more.

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I think this evidence is impressive and persuasive, particularly when you look at it as a whole. However, some disagree — namely, skeptics. I’ll deal with their arguments, and the evidence against them, in the next section:

Mediumship: Skeptical Counterclaims