The dog that anticipates earthquakes - with a rub
A Palmerston North woman with a rare medical condition claims her assistant dog is anticipating earthquakes hours before they strike.
According to Christine Greene, her 9-year-old red and white border collie Sam, alerts her to large earthquakes well before they occur.
Greene suffers from Browns Sequard Syndrome, a condition that can leave her nearly paralysed in the event of an earthquake. She was once left stranded on the floor for 18 hours after an earthquake, she said.
Greene said Sam predicted Monday’s 7.8 earthquake at 4.02pm on Sunday, as well as the 5.8 aftershock on Tuesday, and she stayed up on Sunday night so she could get outside when the earthquake struck.
‘‘He never gets it wrong. I misread it sometimes, but if you check Geonet, he is always right,’’ Greene said.
‘‘When there’s going to be an earthquake he cries loudly, pacing back and forth, then sits on my feet, pressing hard into my legs.’’
How hard he pushed would indicate the size of the earthquake.
‘‘I told people on Sunday, but everyone just laughed.’’
Sam’s ‘‘indications’’ came six to eight hours before a quake.
‘‘It is hard to demonstrate because you have got to be there when it happens.’’
Greene said she had alerted officials to Sam’s ability in the past but no one took her seriously.
‘‘They thought I was a bit nutty.’’
Massey University animal behaviour expert Kevin Stafford said most reports of animals predicting earthquakes were anecdotal and retrospective.
‘‘It is really difficult to do research because we don’t know when earthquakes are coming.’’ He remained skeptical. ‘‘We have been living closely with dogs for a long time and we have not picked this up.
‘‘I’m not saying it does not happen, but if I had a dog that could predict earthquakes, I would certainly offer my services to Civil Defence.’’