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I’m heading out to one of our last camping trips of the season. Many of you have animals and will be interested in today’s interview with Karen Anderson, an animal communicator to whom I was referred 20 years ago when my brother was killed.
This conversation does touch on my brother’s case, but it’s mainly about Karen’s experience in communicating with animals. I hope you enjoy it and will let me know in the comments below.
Hello friend. I’m Sherold Barr, a master life coach and a writer.
Quick note before we start our interview today. I want to let you know that this conversation touches on the loss of my younger brother. And while I won’t be going into detail, I want you to know that going in. It’s not appropriate for young children, and it does deal with a situation in which my brother was killed.
That’s how I found Karen. A friend of mine mentioned your name. I had never even heard of animal communication, but I was so invested in trying to find out what had happened to my brother, who was missing for three years. That was really tragic for my family, and he was killed. It was 21 years ago.
Today I’m excited to talk with Karen Anderson. She’s a pet loss specialist, an animal communicator, a coach, an author, and the owner of a nonprofit pet sanctuary called Painted Rain Ranch. And that’s located in Washington. And she runs the pet sanctuary with her husband, Danny. The Sanctuary relies on private donations. And we’re going to talk about that once I introduce Karen, who can tell you about her mission to save overlooked and abandoned pets. And it’s just a really beautiful story of how she’s evolved into doing these rescues and saving these unwanted animals.
Karen, I am so happy to talk to you today and to really spread the word about what you do and how this is done now, because it’s been 20 years since I’ve talked to you. So why don’t you tell everybody how you got into this and what you were doing before? Some of your stories are on the podcast, and you can direct them to that as well. I would be happy to. And I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. Oh my gosh, it’s shocking.
Karen: I got into this quite by, I’ll just say, divine intervention. I don’t have a good explanation because I sure didn’t grow up saying I want to be an animal communicator. That was not it at all. So, it literally fell into my world in a very unusual way. In fact, I had spent about 18 years in the mortgage industry. I didn’t know that. Hated it. Goes against every grain in every cell in my body. And this weird shift happened. I wanted to give back. I wanted to do something different. I felt like I was not contributing in any way. But this was weird, Sherold, because nothing happened to me. There wasn’t this, you know, big light bulb moment. It was just this strange draw or pulling sensation. I don’t know how else to describe it, but I felt drawn or pulled to get into law enforcement.
I know. Mortgage business to cop. How does that work? So, female cop, too. Exactly. Right. Well, that was the tough part because it was in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I had left the mortgage industry.
I said, “That’s it. I’m done. I never want to go back ever, ever, ever.” Ended up going back. But for the time being, I started volunteering at a local animal control facility in Colorado that was housed under the sheriff’s department. So that was my exposure to the sheriff’s department that I ended up working for. I would ride along with the animal control officers. I would ride along with the deputies, and I caught the bug.
I don’t understand it, other than that this is just how things happened and fell into my life at the time. And I just rolled with it, loving every minute of helping animals with animal control right along with the deputies. And then I made a very big decision to go full-time as a deputy sheriff.
That’s where the animal communication snowballed.
That’s where it all came to fruition, and everything just took off from there because weird things started to happen to me on crime scenes. I would be there taking a witness statement or working with the victim or whatever I was doing, and the animals that were there- the resident animals that, you know, people have pets, dogs and cats or whatever- they started giving me accurate messages about what I was investigating. It’s crazy, right? I thought I was losing my mind. I really did. I thought I was nuts. Something’s wrong with me. I have some kind of mental issue. But at the same time, in my personal life, I was very much into the spiritual side of being more connected to pets, animal communication, and all that. So, these two things kind of happened at once, magically. And that’s where I realized that, as a law enforcement officer, you have to be in a state of heightened awareness just to go home at the end of your shift to be safe. That kickstarted my intuition. That supercharged, turbocharged intuition in me. That’s just what I needed to do. You don’t have to be a police officer to learn animal communication. Not at all. But that’s what I needed to experience.
My early days as a deputy sheriff were very interesting and very unusual.
I was getting very accurate, detailed information from animals on crime scenes about where suspects were hiding, who was the aggressor in a domestic violence situation. It was really mind-blowing, and I couldn’t tell anyone.
Sherold: I was going to ask you, how in the world- well, did you do extra work to begin to show you knew where to go with the direction? Did it help you get into it enough to solve it?
Karen: Yes. I started to pick up on things thanks to animals that were helping me. And as a rookie, you don’t know anything as a rookie. You think you know everything, but you don’t. I was able to do some pretty amazing stuff as a rookie and the only female officer in the department. So, it was a very interesting time. And the more I realized that the animals could tell me things, such as where a suspect was hiding and what had happened before I arrived at a crime scene, which was later corroborated by other eyewitness testimony.
Then I started to dive deep into animal communication.
So then I was paralleling that you’re doing both at the same time. Exactly. And it was fascinating to me. I was hook, line, and sinker in. I wanted to learn everything I could about it because it was just fascinating to me, especially when the information I was receiving from the animals was often more accurate than what the human witnesses were telling me. Interesting. Because the animals have no bias. They’re honest. They’re truthful. And in law enforcement, we have a saying: if someone’s lips are moving, they’re lying. Someone’s always covering up for someone else or, you know, there are always two sides to the human story. But the animal story was always accurate.
Sherold: Karen, I wanted to know how many years ago you were in law enforcement. You left law enforcement and started doing animal communication full-time because now you’re retired. So you have other people helping you, and they’re trained. You’ve trained them because you do trainings. Do you still lead trainings?
Karen: I do. I do coaching. Yes. We can see that on your website.
Sherold: My brother had asked me, I think about 10 years before he died, if anything ever happened to him, would I take his cats? And when someone asks you that, you, you know, I’m an animal person. I’m an animal nut. Let’s put it that way. I care deeply about animals. And I said, “Sure, I’ll take the cats.” So the worst-case scenario happened: my husband and I were in Barcelona. We flew back, got the cats, and flew them back home. And at the time, I had a giant yellow lab and a bichon. So and we were in a I was in a condo in Portland. So I had four animals, and two of them were so traumatized. A friend told me about Karen, and I got her number.
I was a skeptic going into those conversations [Sherold]
You and I talked. I was a skeptic going into those conversations. I had no idea that, you know, that this could happen. And we talked two different times. I sent those conversations to the detectives on the case. So, they had it. And what was uncanny to me was that, I think, one of the cats was named Catman, a black ebony Siamese, Byron’s favorite. Catman came through, and I asked, where was his body? You know, where was he? And do you remember that? Can you speak to that just a little bit? Because, uh, at the time I didn’t realize what was happening until his body was discovered later. I can talk about that.
Karen: Absolutely. And I get chills about it still to this day, and it’s been, you know, decades later, but it was so profound. It affected me so deeply because I didn’t know, going into it, whether I would be able to help you with any information. So, I was on the skeptical side of my own self, my own abilities.
I opened up to Catman’s energy. It’s literally just like you want to pick up your phone and call a friend.
That’s what it that’s what animal communication is. It’s opening a line of communication, texting or making a phone call, energetically speaking, of course. So, I opened up a space, a meditative space, for Catman’s energy to come through. And I use a photo to make the connection. That’s how I dial them up. And he was alive and well at the time. Both of the cats were alive and well at the time. And as his energy comes through, I can sense it. Much like when you’re standing in line at the grocery store, you’re looking straight ahead, but someone comes in line behind you. You don’t have to turn around, but you can feel them moving into your space. So, I can feel that. I can feel their energy come in. And it’s always a good feeling because animals are wonderful and amazing. So, I felt Catman’s energy come in. And I remember very specifically that I started getting flashes and images in my mind. Much like if I were to ask you right now, think about what’s on your kitchen counter next to your sink. You could probably get that image right in your mind. So that’s what it looks like. It’s just an overlay over what you’re looking at at the moment. And I started getting images of what happened and they were very vivid. They were very detailed.
I could see, interestingly enough, from the cat’s perspective because when this situation happened with Byron, the cats were under the bed hiding because there was, um, kind of a tussle, something going on there. Yeah. So, the cats were hiding, so I could literally see as if I were peeking out from underneath. So, I could see through their eyes, and I was watching what was happening in a mini movie of sorts, and then I’d get the flash of something, such as an article of clothing or what somebody was wearing. I shared all of that information with you, and it comes very fast, and it doesn’t linger. It doesn’t stay there for you to analyze it and go, “Oh, what have we here?” No, it’s as fast as it comes in, then it’s gone again. So I have to share it with you very quickly.
And one of the messages that came through that we had no idea what it was was that I kept hearing either two fours, as in the number four, or two forks, like a spoon and a fork. Two fours or two forks. I didn’t know. You didn’t know. We didn’t know what that was. And we both went I don’t know. Didn’t make any sense at the time. And a lot of the messages that come through don’t make sense right away. And it wasn’t until 3 years later, when you reached out to me and said,
“Karen, you won’t believe this.” But shocking. Yes. His body was found at 2424 Midway Road. Two fours. Two fours. It was incredible. And the two was in there too, but I didn’t pick up on that. But 24 24s, two fours, two fours. And so again, at that point I was not a skeptic. I couldn’t believe this. But then, you know, over the years, I began to pay more attention. I had other, my own animals. I think I did maybe another reading with you at some point or another session.
I’ve been listening to your podcast; somehow you’ve been on my radar again, and you know, I just roll with it kind of. If somebody’s on my radar, I don’t question it; I start paying attention. I’m a big fan of the Telepathy Tapes. And this year, season two of the Telepathy Tapes is all about near-death experiences. And there’s one on there about animal communication, with research they’ve done. And then I believe Rupert Sheldrick, who is a famous scientist. He conducted studies showing that dogs know when their owners are coming home, and he filmed the results.
But the thing that’s fascinating is, um, they’re going into near-death experiences. And since I had one nine years ago, um, as a result of a car wreck.
Karen, say more about that. I’m happy to. It’s the same thing. And to add even more credibility to what you’re saying, in my almost 30 years now of animal communication, I also do mediumship, which is communicating with deceased human loved ones, but also, Sherold, I’ve communicated with Alzheimer patients that are nonverbal, dementia patients that are nonverbal, and I’ve also had communication with several in comas in a coma in the hospital. Clear, bright, articulate, accurate, detailed information. Fully aware of who’s there, who’s with them, what’s happening around them. Fully aware. So, this is real. I’m getting goosebumps. I know.
Sherold: How has this changed you?
Karen: I started this back in the late 80s. Yes. So I was before any of this science was even close to where it is now, and there was nothing out there, and people just thought I was nuts. It just didn't have a great reputation, but I think it’s going- it’s changing now because of the research, you know, and is proving it. The science is there. Yes. And anyone who’s lived with an animal, a pet, a companion- anyone who has lived with a companion- you know that there is an unspoken, nonverbal language between you. You know it because you’ve sensed it, you felt it; you either knew something was wrong or you sensed what they needed. And I’m not talking about verbal cues, crying at the door, wanting to go out, or being hungry; I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the subtle energy that you pick up that something was either wrong, or they needed something, or they wanted something. Whatever it was, you’ve picked up on it. You have to share the same space. They’re with us almost 247. Mine are, and it’s something that you can’t really describe.
So telepathy, mind-to-mind communication, is just literally sending a thought from one mind to another.
That mind can be animal; it can be human, inner species; it doesn’t matter. It’s mind-to-mind telepathic communication. Every thought we have has an energetic substance to it. And that energetic substance goes out to our place of intention where we want it to go, and it can be received and understood by the recipient, and an answer can be sent back, or, you know, that message can get answered and come back. The sensitivity to picking up on telepathic communication is a skill anyone can learn. It is not something you have to be born with because we are all born with intuition. I just saw a huge light anomaly float by me. Not with my eye, but on camera. I don’t know if you saw that, but it was right over this shoulder. You know, I saw I thought I saw something. Yeah, something. I didn’t; my mind didn’t really pay attention to it. I’ll have to go back and look. Yeah. So, this is basically a skill, just like playing the piano, cooking, tennis, singing, whatever skill or hobby that you want to learn.
The more you practice, the more you work at it, the better you get. And that’s all animal communication is. It is a skill that can be sharpened and uh and honed over time. With practice and intention, but you also have to have the passion for it because it can be very heartbreaking, especially when it comes to pet loss. It can be very tragic when terrible things happen to people’s pets, or if there’s a breakup and the pets get separated. There’s a lot of emotional attachment there. And everyone’s different. My journey was to be a cop first. So I developed a very tough layer of skin. So I was able to work my way through it. And for some people, they can’t. They’re just too sensitive and it’s too painful and it hurts them too deeply. I’m not saying it doesn’t hurt me, but I’m better able to process and work with those emotions because it is extremely emotional. Think about the animals people consume, factory-farmed. Think about animals that are in shelters. Think about wildlife. You see animals being hit by cars along the roadside. There’s a lot that comes at you once you open the door to that sensitivity. You are now subjected to all of that, and it can be overwhelming. So, fortunately, I worked very hard at learning how to literally turn it on and off.
So when I was working, I was fully connected, fully dialed in, and focused. When I wasn’t working, meaning when I wasn’t in a communication session, I turned everything down. Didn’t turn it off. I just turned the volume down to cope, because otherwise it would be overwhelming, right? So, to go back to the mind-to- mind telepathy, everyone watching this, everyone listening right now, you’ve already done this. You’ve done this in some way, shape, or form. You’ve heard of mother’s intuition. I’m not a human mom, but mothers have an intuition about their children. They sense when something’s wrong. Twins: when twins know there’s something going on with the other twin, they’re nowhere near each other, but they know something is going on with the other. This has been proven time and time again. So, there is a science behind it. And I love that science backs it up, and it’s there. You just have to do your research. There’s also the quantum realm, which I’m fascinated. I don’t know enough to be dangerous.
Sherold: I’m fascinated by the quantum realm because I’m right there with you and going that direction because this near-death experience changed my entire life.
I went from materialism, the way we’re all brought up, to that’s an empty life. A spiritual life, an inner world, and I’m going to be fine no matter what happens to me out here. And that’s what we all need: an inner life, a rich inner life. So I’m right there with you, the quantum field. And we’re learning more and more all the time. I find that the more questions I ask about how this works? How can I do this? You know, how is this even possible? I find that the answers get more elusive. So, it’s one of those things where you just have to roll with it. You just have to go into it like you’re diving into a pool, and you just have to swim, and you have to enjoy the experience. When you start trying to peel away the layers of why this is working? How can this even be possible? That animal died.
How can you receive a message from something that is dead?
It’s almost as if the universe says, “No, sorry. You don’t get anything now. We’re shutting you down.” Part of it is realizing that there’s more to life than the physical reality you and I live in. There are far more things going on that we can't even wrap our heads around that we’ll someday all find out about. And you need this sense of understanding to be open to those possibilities. If you’re close-minded and closed off, which some people are for whatever reason, they’re not going to be as accepting, and they’re going to be the naysayers and, right, just the cynics and the ones saying, you know, terrible things about me, and you know, that’s fine. I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone. I’m just saying the science is there now to back up everything that I’ve been doing for the past 30 years. And I love it. I love that it’s finally catching up because there is proof, and telepathy has been around forever. The Aboriginal tribes were among the first to use telepathy to communicate with one another. This has been around for a very long time. This is not something new.
Native Americans commune with nature. They commune with everything around them: the animals, the environment. This is that: to you and me, it might seem odd or strange, but it has a history. Yeah. And I think the more and more I’m believing that we don’t see so much of what’s going on. We don’t understand that reality. And this, uh, for example, just the telepathy tapes, but there’s so much research going on with the quantum field and, uh, consciousness, which is what I’m very interested in because consciousness is tied to energy, and we’re all energetic beings, and that’s a whole fascinating area in itself.
Sherold: I just want to close the loop on my brother: the case is a cold case, and it may never be solved. But somebody will probably talk at some point. When I think Karen was involved those first few years, the material there was a second session that we did. I don’t really want to go through that, but there was also more very clear information about who might have done it, and the initials, and the investigator sent me a photograph of someone at the time who was, you know, in trouble and in jail in Nashville, but I don’t think they ever talked to that person. But it’s just my family has resolved, you know, it’s just it’s it’s an old case. It’s sad, but I just want to say to you that it was one of the more- I guess- I’ll never forget it. It was so amazing, and that’s why we’re talking today.
Sherold: It took me a long time to be able to talk to you, you know, because I think we talked about it before, but I’m really thankful to you. And can you talk to us now about what you do and your books, and how you support your sanctuary, especially the kind of animals that you take care of, and the vet bills you need help with through donations?
Karen: The vet bills are crazy right now. So, in the work I do now, I have a group of hand-selected colleagues I trained who are also animal communicators. They are specialists, and they donate a portion of their session to the nonprofit. So, let’s say you book a session through my website, through the nonprofit website. Your full session is tax-deductible because those proceeds go to the nonprofit to help the animals. And we specialize in hospice, senior, special needs, abandoned, abused, and unwanted companion animals. That’s who we rescue. We have 30 acres in eastern Washington. It’s beautiful here. It looks like Germany. Beautiful evergreen trees. Germany is so clean and so pure, isn’t it? Yes. And we rescued these animals that have been through horrific experiences. Some of their humans have died, and no one will take them. Whatever the situation is, we don’t care. They come here, and they stay here until their final breath. Sherold, we do not adopt out. So, we’re very different than other sanctuaries that are always looking to find a home for those animals. This is their home. And so, we have the honor of being their caretakers for life. And it is a huge, huge commitment. It’s also sometimes very heartbreaking because we take the ones that have so many health issues. So, we lose a lot, but we also save a lot, help them, and they get to feel like they have a forever home. They get to feel love. They get to feel love. That is remarkable. Yes. And they never have to go through the trauma of being abandoned or overlooked again.
This is my childhood dream come true [Karen]
So everything I do now- my books, I’ve written three books on pet loss and grief and animal communication, the afterlife proceeds all go to the nonprofit. My coaching, it all goes to the nonprofit. Everything I do now funds the nonprofit because we are faced with such high bills; the costs are just insane right now, and even good food in general. Have you seen how much a case of really good pet food costs these days? It’s crazy. It is crazy. It is. I had to go out and buy new food for Teddy, who’s stopped eating. I know. And then the cats are horrified. I know. And the cats want to snub their nose. It’s like, are you crazy? You know how much that costs? Everything I do now is supporting the nonprofit, and we do not get grants. We do not get federal funding. We are strictly private donations. We rely on people like you and those who are watching right now, kind-hearted souls who understand that we need more sanctuaries like mine, where we are helping the pets that are overlooked at shelters. I work with local agencies here. So, if they have a particular animal that’s been there for a terribly long time and nobody’s showing any interest in them, they come here. Oh, that’s amazing. Now, do you have- are you working? So these agencies or places will call you and say We’ve got these animals. Is that how it works? Yes. And unfortunately I can’t take them all. Unfortunately, I do have, you know, limits, and I am the sole caretaker. My husband Danny does the heavy lifting around here, but the primary caretaking is me. Wow. So I can only take on as many as I can give them my full and complete 100% commitment to. So that is restrictive as well. We didn’t want to expand to the point of having employees and all that. We wanted to keep it just the two of us this way so we could give better care to the animals here with us at the sanctuary. So, with those limits, we do the best that we can. And so when we have the space, then we bring in more rescues.
And it is truly the greatest blessing I’ve ever experienced in my life. They blossom here. We’ve had feral cats that now love being picked up and held; they understand what a home is and what peace is, and they sleep. You know, animals that are scared, they don’t ever sleep. They’re always on edge and always waiting for the next thing to get them. These guys are zonked out. They’re out there right now while we’re talking. Everyone’s enjoying a nice nap. So, that is my joy right now. That is my passion, and just keeping the awareness that we need to adopt seniors. We need to adopt the less-than-perfect ones, missing an eye, missing a limb. Maybe they have a health issue. We need to be more open to bringing those into our homes than just the little puppies and kittens that everybody wants. There are so many older pets that just want a place to hang out, and they’re very low-maintenance for the most part.
My books are on Amazon and Audible, and I believe you can get them in Apple Books. There are a couple of other places you can get them, and they’re in so many languages. I was amazed. Yes, one of my books, The Amazing Afterlife of Animals, is in five different languages right now. And on Audible, it’s narrated in my voice. I have my first book. I haven’t uploaded those audio tapes yet because I just haven’t gotten to them, but they will be in my voice soon; the other two are in my voice. The Pet I Can’t Forget is my most recent book, and it’s about the signs and messages animals send us and how to stay connected even after they leave their physical bodies. And my website, where you can find all these books, courses, and everything, is simply my name: karenanderson.net. So that’s where all of this can be found. My nonprofit, paintedrainranch.org
Sherold: Karen, I’m so glad that you were able to help me at the time, and it was a high point in a difficult situation, because I became a believer, not a skeptic anymore. It was a It was an amazing experience.
Karen: And I’m sure your brother has everything to do with this. And I know he’s listening now. And I’m sure he’s smiling right now because, oh, yeah. We’re talking about him, and they love it when we talk about him. Oh, he was very flamboyant and, uh, an amazing guy and very, very talented. Very talented. So, his cats were his entire life. And I had a visitation. I’ll just say this: with him, maybe about, I don’t know, 6 months after the cats had been there, and it was more real. These visitations are a dream that is so real you never forget it, like a near-death experience, actually. And he was waving. I had a condo in Portland's Pearl District, and I was looking down at the street, holding Catman, when he looked up, waving so happily, and got into an old-fashioned yellow taxi. It’s kind of a rounded type of taxi, and he was waving up at me, and he was so happy that his cats were taken care of. Yep. And it was a way that, you know, during a sad situation that he knew, he was happy.
Karen: I know both of his cats are with him now. Correct. Yeah. Oh, yes. Both of them passed away. Yeah. So they’re all back together again. And that’s the beauty of the afterlife: we are reunited again with the pets that we love so much. Those bonds of love never die. Just like the bonds of love that we have with our human loved ones, you know, we are connected for eternity. And that love continues on. And it’s beautiful. And you never have to worry about those in the afterlife. You never have to worry about your pets. There will always be someone there to greet them. There will always be a loved one or a being of light or someone special there if there isn’t someone already waiting for them.
I think a session, an afterlife session with your pet, can bring a tremendous amount of healing. It doesn’t make the grief go away. Nothing makes the grief go away, but it does soften the edges. It does. And it makes that whole grieving process a little bit lighter and a little bit easier, especially when you get an undeniably accurate message like all of those messages you received. It is an incredible experience. I highly recommend it to anyone who’s listening and is fascinated by this to look up Karen’s website and do this. I’ve done it, I think, at least twice, and it did give me an incredible, you know, I didn’t worry anymore. I really had a lot of peace. So I agree with you.
Thank you so much, Karen. It’s a pleasure to see you, and I hope that people will help support your work once they see this. I appreciate it so much, and it’s been a blessing. I want to thank you for trusting me because that is huge, and for giving me this opportunity to talk about it all these years later. Sherold, what an absolute joy. It has been. It’s been a joy to connect with you again. So, I hope we connect again at some point. So my, uh, joy would be that people help you, you know, learn about this through Karen, get the books, and maybe have some sessions so that this can go full circle.
Karen: I have a free app too. It’s called Pet Loss Hope and Healing. You can download it in the App Store and Google Play. I downloaded it: Hope and Healing. Okay, good, that’s a great resource. Thank you. That’s so cool. All right, Karen, thank you so much for your time today. We’ll be in touch. My pleasure.
