A Fairytale Of A Story About Talking To The Animals
This is a story that has all the elements of a fairytale. There’s the hero (Howard, a little Chihuahua that looks like a cross between a gargoyle and a deer), the Princess, (Dianna, who comes to the rescue), the Healers (all the veterinarians that saved little Howard’s life) and the Sorceress (Patricia Bono, bone fide animal communicator).
As the story opens, poor Howard has been abandoned in large park, locked in a crate without food and water and left there like trash. Along comes a kind veterinarian and her family, who find the carrier with Howard inside. The doctor calls the Princess, who manages the animal hospital, and she tells the doctor to bring the little guy right in. The doc does, Howard goes through more tribulation, including the removal of his teeth and the loss of his manhood (only physically and not at all spiritually). And then Howard and the Princess fall in love.
Wanting to know her true love’s lineage and the origin of his fears, the Princess seeks counsel from a Sorceress, who looks deep into Howard’s eyes. For starters, she divines that Howard would prefer a new name. He is a warrior who has survived many battles, and he wants to be called Sir Braveheart. With great wisdom and deep insight, the Sorceress reveals little Braveheart’s deepest feelings, and the Princess and the Warrior go back home to live happily ever after.
The only twist in this story is that it isn’t a fairytale. It happened right here in New York City.
Have you ever noticed your cat staring at you and wondered what they were thinking? Or thought your dog was feeling out of sorts, but couldn’t figure out how to help her? Have you adopted a rescue animal who’s afraid of water or loud noises or people in general, and wondered what happened in his or her life to cause such fear? If so, then a visit to an animal communicator may be just what the doctor ordered.
Animal communicators, also called pet psychics, communicate with an animal telepathically. Whether you realize it or not, most of us communicate to some extent telepathically. You are using a “sixth sense” when you can feel that someone is angry or afraid or sad before speaking to them. Some people have recorded knowing that someone died before receiving the telephone call, or waking up knowing that something terrible was going to happen and having it come true.
Telepathy is an extension of intuition, and animals, having no complex language skills, use this sense along with their other senses to communicate both within their species and with other species.
“Obviously, animals cannot speak the way we do, but they can communicate in other ways, through telepathic insight, emotions, colors, thoughts, and feelings,” says Patricia Bono. Animal communicators are people who understand that animals are sentient beings with a conscious, intelligence, emotions, and a purpose to their lives. They believe that our “pets” are not there to serve our needs but have needs and goals of their own. Whether you believe in the ability to communicate with animals or not, this is a philosophy that all of us who live with animals can learn from. It is a deeper awareness of the sentience of the animals that share our lives and our environment, an understanding that would go a long way to making our world a more compassionate, humane place.
Many animal communicators work with people and their pets to help resolve problems or find out specific information. In the case of Dianna Kamp and her dog, it helped her understand the possible roots of Howard’s fears and how to make him feel safer.
“Have you ever had any of your animals staring at you or looking over your shoulder to the point where you want to turn around and see what’s behind you? Usually when they’re staring at you, they are trying to get you to pay attention to what they are trying to say,” says Pat Bono. “It’s their way of trying to connect with you, to help you develop an awareness of what’s going on around you in the non-verbal form, to connect to that other aspect of who we are, not the linear aspect but the intuitive aspect, the right brain.”
Pat has always been able to communicate with animals. “We all can learn how to do it, though some of us have an ability to connect on that level to a deeper degree than others. It’s a gift I was born with. As far back as I can remember, I looked at animals, both wild and domestic, from birds and squirrels to dogs and cats, and had them connect to me,” she says. “When I started using it, it taught me that certainly there’s more to life than what we see in the physical. There’s another level that we can connect to. It’s taught me that there is a way that we can utilize our intelligence to connect to a world that wants very badly to connect to us.”
She says she can sense what animals are trying to say. “Whether it’s a food issue, an emotional issue, or a physical issue, I can feel it. It’s almost like they speak to me in a way that allows me to put those thoughts into verbal form so the person I’m talking to can connect with what they’re trying to say.
Dianna Kamp manages two veterinary hospitals on the Upper East Side, and she finds homes for the stray animals that are brought there. “That’s my side project, and I love doing it,” she says. “I love meeting the people and helping these animals that were in a bad situation, and sometimes I end up taking them home. I’ve got a cat that came home that way, and now there’s Howard.
When someone told her about Patricia Bono, Dianna was intrigued. She was so curious about how Howard came to be abandoned in his crate in the park, that she called and made an appointment. She was not disappointed. “It was really surprising to hear some of the things she knew, and it shed some light on why he behaves in certain ways, like why he doesn’t like water,” she says.
One of the first things Pat communicated was that Howard hated his name. “He despised what I named him,” Dianna says. “He wanted to be called Sir Braveheart. Pat said he felt like he’s brave, he’s been through a lot, and he should have a stronger name. He has a big heart, and he needs something more fitting for his stature. He wants a courageous name. He’s a warrior.”
When Pat communicated that Howard (Dianna’s not yet sold on Sir Braveheart) wanted to thank her because he can see better now, she was amazed. “When we first brought him into the hospital, his eyes were basically fogged over. They were gray. But now that he’s getting the right nutrition, his eyes are almost crystal clear,” Dianna says. Pat also described Dianna’s apartment, the place Howard loves to lie in the afternoon sun, and told her that Howard loves his bed in the living room but would also love one in the bedroom, preferably in red, his favorite color. (She got him his red bed and he loves it.)
Howard has been through a lot. “Before we decided to take him home, he had lost his will to live,” Dianna says. “He just had been through so much. Pat said that he was just done. And then we picked each other. I was feeding him in the hospital one day because he didn’t have any teeth, and he just looked at me like, do you want to do this? And I thought, yes, I think so!
Howard hates water and he hates the rain. He won’t go anywhere near the bathroom, and giving him a bath is “not pretty.” Pat communicated that he hates water because someone in his past tried to drown him. “When I asked about his past life, she said it was mostly benign neglect.
He lived with a family that didn’t know how to take care of him, and he hadn’t had a full night’s sleep ever because people would always step on him, and he could never get out of the way. He’s really happy at my house because he can sleep. He has dreams, but some are nightmares. He would go to sleep, and I would hear him crying. But now, he doesn’t do that anymore.”
According to Pat (or to Howard, if you’re a believer), his last owner was a not-quite-all-there elderly woman, and she’s the person who left him in the park. “Pat said that she may have just forgotten him,” Dianna says. “And this made me tear up. He tried so hard to love and be loved, and he just didn’t know what to do anymore because he tried so hard.”
Howard is a lucky old man. His people dote on him and are committed to making his golden years as loving and comfortable as his wildest dreams. “My neighbors had a barbecue for him the first week he was here to welcome him to the building, and people know his story on the block and they just love him. Anytime he walks in anywhere, everybody just has to smile. And I think, what if it wouldn’t have been our doctor who found him, but someone else who would just throw him away? There would be something
missing from my husband’s and my life. We were happy before, but now it’s just so fun, having this little guy and being able to do nice things for him because he had such a hard time before.”
Pat Bono is available for readings both in-person and can also do readings on the phone because of the nature of energy. “Energy travels through time and space,” she says. “It knows no boundaries. Energy can go to the past, present, or future. Many times, animals can connect through those portals, and they bring the past up so that the person can understand why a dog he or she has a certain behavior. Having that awareness can help that animal’s person to understand what trauma they went through and how to cope with it to help them heal and move on. And many times, just talking to them, using me as a vehicle to connect to them, helps the person but also gets through to the animal. ”
The bottom line is that our animals deserve to be heard, however you choose to listen. “Animals love unconditionally,” Pat says. “They love without thought. I think it’s one of the purest forms of love that there is.”
