Pet Psychic in Washington Post

[ebola]

The subject line says it all.
The link is here:
My favorite part:

Sometimes Fitzpatrick is right on the money and sometimes she isn't. When she is, the pet owners look shocked. Sometimes, if she's telling them about a pet that "passed over," the owners cry. When Fitzpatrick isn't right, she explains that's because the animals (which, incidentally, she can see in spirit form swarming all over the stage) sometimes get their telepathic transmissions crossed. But she knows just how to remedy this.

For example, she asks a woman with two cats which one was a "rescue cat." The woman says neither was, but Fitzpatrick still feels its presence, so she asks the other people onstage. None of them has a rescue cat. She turns to the audience. It was a tabby that passed over, she says. "It had trouble with its teeth toward the end."

A woman in the audience stands up. It's her cat that is transmitting thoughts to Fitzpatrick! The description is dead on, aside from the fact that her cat is still alive.

She missed the target, she missed everyone onstage, the nearest non-hit being in the audience.

Eric

 

[thaiboxerken]

I'm glad that a skeptical view is presented in the media for a change.

 

[ebola]

The skeptical viewpoint is there, but, if you check the link, they buried it in the article. It would not have surprised me at all for Fitzpatrick to have claimed a hit if someone had told her that she was exactly right, except that his pet was a dog ( horse, rabbit, hamster, goldfish ), the owner had bought the animal from a breeder, and that its teeth were fine, but its eyesight was beginning to fail, but was not yet blind. But other than those minor discrepancies, she was right on the money.

Eric

 

[thaiboxerken]

I dunno, the article seems rather tongue-in-cheek about the biatch.

 

[Yahweh]

I think Mrs. Fitzpatrick personifies her talent in Randi's most recent commentary... funny stuff...

 

[renata]

The pet psychic does not do anything different than other mediums. Indeed John Edward brings through pets, and, I believe either endorsed her or did a seminar with her. There are plenty of people who believe her, and, sadly some people believe as long as there anecdotes, or people describing events, or a smooth talking presenter, or some books, there might be something to it- in the absence of scientific evidence and without clearly elucidated process and testable, repeatable, consistent results that fit into universe as it is known. I wish I understood it...I just can't.

This one person may be so comical, people may ask- who does she hurt. Well, Miss Cleo was comical to most of us too, until she bilked people out of substantial sums of money. This woman, and others likely are frauds. Grieving people can spend thousands of dollars on going to many mediums. I am not sure why a pet psychic is so popular, but hey, I dont have pets. Not only is the damage financial, emotional- by not being able to move on, accept the loss, and perhaps be disappointed by being taken by frauds. However, even if the financial stake was small, just the fact that someone consistently and repeatedly perpetrated a fraud should be enough to raise anyone's ire. However, you will find fellow mediums banding together as one. Sore point with me, perhaps. But once again, these people are not merely cute clowns.

 

[ebola]

Ken,

You're right, the article is tongue in cheek. I guess I was just a little galled that she was fleecing the gullible for $40/head and insisted that a litter box needed adjusting after [tongue in cheek] the house had been successfully feng shuied [/tongue in cheek].

Eric

 

[Rolfe]

It was a tabby that passed over, she says. "It had trouble with its teeth toward the end."

It was obviously my late cat. He was a tabby, he was rescued, he had trouble with his teeth most of his life. Of course I was nowhere near this demo. My poor cat, why is he so confused as to be hanging around psychics in the wrong damn continent?

Oh there are squillions of cats matching this description? Yeah, it was lousy luck she didn't get a hit on that, I'd have said it was almost a sure thing.

Rolfe.