You had to know it would happen, and Respectful Insolence found it:
“Scamp, a Schnauzer, lives at The Pines nursing home in Ohio – where his owner, a staff member, claims he has been present for the death of virtually every patient for the past three years. That’s around forty deaths, twice as many as Oscar the cat’s kill count of 20.
Deirdre Huth, Scamps owner, says that the doomhound always turns up in the hours before one of the residents dies, waiting patiently in their room until they pass away.”
Is it just me, or is there a wierd tone there? “My psychic animal killed more people than your psychic animal.”
Orac suggests several other animals that may want to get on the Clever Hans Bandwagon: Happy the Death Hampster, the Fish of Fate, etc. I was skeptical, but apparently Happy actually exists.
Don’t miss Becca’s original rant about the Cat of Croaking.
Hmmm…. Fish of Fate, eh? Now THAT would be very impressive. Either the fish must teleport itself and its bowl around the nursing home, or be able to survive outside of water long enough to flop into the beds of dying elderly folk. Although somehow I think a flopping, gasping, slimy fish might be of less comfort to a family than a cuddly mammal.
Oh this could be fun…
Polly the Parrot of Passing ("aaawk.. you're a goner… aaawk"),
the Monkey of Mortality (I think all nursing homes should have monkeys),
and for down on the farm, the Cow of Chaos ("Bessies been following you around alot Hank… you feeling OK?").
Meh, I'm not impressed.
Call me when they discover the Wombat of Woe.
The death cat has died. Apparently someone socked it in the head with a bedpan:
http://scienceblogs.com/terrasig/2007/08/unpopula…
You know, despite the fact that I really disliked the whole to-do over this Death Cat thing, the cat lover in me actually felt quite bad about his demise, until I saw that the story ultimately originated from a parody site.
Maybe I just miss the various cats owned by my family members back in the States…but still, I'm glad Oscar isn't REALLY dead yet…even if that means the woo surrounding him lives on. :-P
If this dog could tell who was about to die, then why wouldn't they do something useful with that talent? How about a suicide-bomber detector in Iraq? Or at the on-ramp on the highway so we know who is going to get in a wreck, and can warn them to drive carefully?