Do Animals Have Spirits?

[LadyCG]

I know many of you don't need convincing that there is life after death or that ghosts exist, but what happens to our beloved pets when they pass on?

I was chatting with my mother on the phone earlier and suddenly was overwhelmed with the smell of what I call "wet dog." My mother suggested Alfie (my dog who died four years ago) came to pay me a visit. It got me thinking about something that happened a couple of days after he died when I was completely grief-stricken - I felt him jump on the bed and curl up next to me. My mother had an identical experience when her beloved Springer died over eight years ago.

Do you believe in animal spirits and have you ever had an experience in this regard?

[LadyCG]

Scholarly articles ... or just literary garbage?

There is no compelling scientific evidence to prove or disprove the afterlife, there is only the experiences / accounts of those who believe and the doubt of those who don't.

[Zacs-Master]

You won’t know that until you read it, LCG. It even has a section on on-line relating of revenant pet stories.

[allenlondon]

Surely the point is this.

If WE have souls/spirits/non-bodily essence, then WHY shouldn’t pigs, cats, robins, etc?

If it’s good enough for us, why not our sentient fellow travellers?

[Deskdiary]

What a bizarre thread

Paraphrasing...

LCG said my dead dog jumped on the bed and leant against me, and when challenged, the response is that it's down to those that challenged it to prove it didn't happen.

What a bizarre response.

That's exactly the same as religionists putting the onus on non-believers to prove god doesn't exist.

[Zacs-Master]

It is indeed. There are basic ‘rules’ to debating a fact, one of which is that the onus is very much on the claimee to prove the claim. Merely switching it around is rather childish.