Dubai woman believes talking to animals only takes practice

Sabine Poncelet considers herself an animal whisperer, someone who can communicate psychically with cats, dogs and horses.

Sabine Poncelet, who claims to be able to communicate telepathically with animals. Courtesy Baginskaya Gallery and Studio

DUBAI // One of the most enduring childhood memories for Sabine Poncelet was sitting in a field at age seven sharing a psychic conversation with a cow.

Nowadays, Ms Poncelet, 43, makes a living teaching other people how to communicate telepathically with their pets.

The Belgian woman considers herself an animal whisperer – someone who is said to be able to talk psychically with cats, dogs and horses.

She will hold a seminar later this month for people who want to know what their animals really think of them.

“Many people don’t think their animals can understand them when they talk to them,” she said. “But they do understand, and they try to talk to us back, but we don’t listen, or don’t know how to listen.”

Ms Poncelet said she receives an animal’s thoughts as images and sympathetic feelings.

Sometimes she is able to carry out “energy healing” using methods like Reiki. Other times, she might just refer a pet to a veterinarian.

Ms Poncelet recently visited the home of Tamara Pitelen, who has two cats.

Last time Ms Poncelet saw black tabby Jake, she told Ms Pitelen he was suffering from ear pain, and to get it checked out with a vet. Two days later Jake was on medication after the vet diagnosed ear mites.

“It does sound a little crazy, but I’m a hippy and I believe in this stuff,” said Ms Pitelen, from New Zealand.

On Wednesday, Ms Pitelen was planning to move house, and her cats were terrified. Bellini had hidden herself behind a wooden board that had been propped up against the wall.

“She’s worried that you’re going to take her away to a new place on her own,” Ms Poncelet said.

In order to put the animal’s mind at ease, Ms Poncelet attempted to send images of the family with the cat in the new house. But it was to no avail, and by the end of the session, the animal remained hidden.

Ms Poncelet charges Dh350 per consultation and visits about 40 clients a month. On September 26, she will host a seminar teaching people how to communicate with their pets, at a cost of Dh850 per person.

Ms Poncelet said she believes that telepathy is an innate ability but also something that can be learned and developed.

“We are born with it, but it’s like a muscle that grows weak because we don’t use it,” she said. “But it is possible to strengthen it every day through meditation, and practice with humans. You can reach a good level in three months if you work hard every day.”

Psychic communication between humans and animals is not new, but first entered into popular imagination with the book The Horse Whisperer.

However, the concept often proves controversial.

The Skeptics Society, which debunks paranormal phenomena, says on its website: “It’s difficult enough for skeptics to verify human psychic claims because of the vagueness of the readings. Since animals don’t speak our tongue, verifiability would be even more difficult with pet psychics.”

Despite that, the Cambridge professor Rupert Sheldrake has carried out dozens of experiments which seem to show that certain animals do appear to have telepathic abilities.

He published several papers on subjects as varied as a talking parrot that guesses what is on a hidden television screen, and dogs who know their owner will come home, even before they park their car. However, the ability of people to be able to receive communications from animals has not been thoroughly tested.

Ms Poncelet said it was about tapping into that form of nonverbal communication which we are born with, but forget how to use.

“Animals are masters at communicating if we just listen to them,” she said. “Many times we’re too busy to listen.”