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Professor Ernesto Bozzano - The parapsychological manifestations of animals - 130 cases proving animal mediumistic abilities

I take the following case from Volume VIII, p. 45, of the Annals of Psychic Sciences, which had reproduced it from the Italian Journal Il Vessillo Spiritista (The Spiritist's Missile).

Miss Lubow Krijanowski, the daughter of the deceased general of the same name, and sister of Miss Wera Krijanowski, now Mrs. Semenoff, tells us the following story, which happened to her, and which relates to the question so debated about the souls of animals:

This is about a small dog that was the beloved of all of us, especially Wera. The animal became ill, partly because of this affection and the excessive treats that were the result. She was suffering from suffocation and coughing. The veterinarian who was treating her did not believe that the disease was dangerous. Nevertheless Wera was very worried, she would get up at night to massage her and give her the medicine. No one thought she would die.

One night, Bonika's condition, that was the name of the little dog, suddenly got worse. We had apprehension, especially Wera. It was decided that, in the morning, we would go and see the veterinarian, because if we had just called for him, he would only have come in the evening.

So, in the morning, Wera and our mother left with the sick dog. I stayed and started writing. I was so absorbed with my work that I forgot the departure of my family, when all of a sudden I heard the dog coughing in the next room. That was where her basket was. Since she was sick, when she had barely begun to cough or moan then one of us went to see what she needed, gave her something to drink, presented her with her medicine or adjusted the bandage she was wearing around her neck.

Pushed by habit, I got up and approached the basket. When I saw it empty, I remembered that Mother and Wera had left with Bonika and I remained perplexed, because the cough had been so loud and distinct that any idea of error had to be rejected.

I was still pondering over the empty basket when, near me, one of those moans was heard, which Bonika greeted us with when we returned. It was followed by a second one that seemed to come from the next room, then a third whining that seemed to get lost out in the distance.

I must admit that I remained seized and felt a painful shudder. The idea came to me that the dog had died. I looked at the clock; it was noon minus five minutes.

Worried and restless, I sat at the window and waited impatiently for my family. When I saw Wera coming back alone, I ran to her and told her in a hurry:

"Bonika is dead."

"How do you know?" she said, stunned. Before answering her, I asked her if she knew exactly what time she had died.

"A few minutes before noon," she replied, and she told me the following:

When they arrived at the vet's, around eleven o'clock, he had already left, but the servant urged the ladies to wait, as his boss had to return around noon because that was the time when his consultations began. So they stayed, but as the dog became more and more agitated, Wera sometimes put her on the couch, sometimes on the ground and impatiently watched the clock. To her great joy she had just noticed that there were only a few minutes left before noon, when the dog might be rescued from suffocation.

Wera wanted to put it back on the couch, but as she raised it, she suddenly saw the animal, as well as her hands, flooded with such intense and bright purple light that, understanding nothing of what was happening, she shouted: "Fire!"

Mother saw nothing; but as she had turned her back to the fireplace, she thought the fire had started in her dress and she turned around frightened: she noticed then that there was no fire in the fireplace, but immediately afterwards, it was noticed that the dog had just expired, so that Mother no longer thought of scolding Wera for her untimely cry and for the fear she had caused to her.