Sheep have told me that they’re better herbalists than any human being who’s studied it. And they’ve actually taken me through the experience of how they choose plants, and how they experience that in their body, and what actually happens in terms of balance. And that’s really quite incredible.

Halo, precious viewers, and welcome to today’s Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants featuring Australian animal advocate and telepathic animal communicator Jodi Ruckley, founder of “Our Place on Earth,” a non-profit group that promotes the vegan lifestyle, works to close factory farms and encourages a symbiotic relationship between humans and animals.

Ms. Ruckley is also a producer and director having released in 2010 her first-ever film entitled “The Animals You Eat” on factory-farmed animals. In February 2011, she published her first book called “Through the Eyes of a Cow,” where she shares with readers her experiences of telepathically communicating with bovines during her travels around the world. On today’s program Jodi Ruckley discusses some of her extraordinary dialogues with animals.

Do you find that animals are naturally telepathic?

Absolutely. I feel like the whole world is naturally telepathic and there’re interactions going on a non-physical level, on an energetic level between all of us. People often comment to me, “But how do I tell my dog something, or how can I make sure he’s getting my messages?” And I often explain that they’re already hearing everything from you.

While Ms. Ruckley was producing “The Animals You Eat,” she communicated on a heart-to-heart level with a number of factory-farmed animals.

I really see no difference between the dogs and cats that I’ve had close encounters with and the pigs and the chickens and the cows that I’ve met inside factory farms. When I go into these places, I actually go in with the awareness of wanting to connect with them. And I want to find out who they really are, and what they’re about. And it’s been really beautiful to share with them.

It’s also very sad, of course, because the conditions they live in are absolutely appalling. And you know what I have found, like for example with broiler chickens, the general sense is that a lot of them really don’t feel anything at all. They’re actually quite dead. I mean, they only live there for a period of six weeks. They’re only babies when they are at the point when they’re actually sent to an abattoir. And they’re living in a large shed in very crowded conditions. They’re given a lot of unnatural things, like antibiotics, which are really contributing to them not being able to really feel who they are.

But what I’ve also noticed is really incredible. When I’ve taken a chicken from a broiler farm, who’s at six weeks the day before going to an abattoir, and then he goes to a sanctuary and a refuge, on the first day he already is starting to peck at the ground and do all these natural things. And you know, it’s only going to take a short period of time before he can get in touch with who he really is again. And that’s the sense that I get. They just want to be.

They just want to be free. It’s just a basic life that they’re craving, just like all of us, really. And just to be able to express their natural behaviors, and have close relationships with those that they want to, and be in a social kind of hierarchy, and to be able to search for their own food and water. Those are the things that are really, really important.

Jodi Ruckley has had many inner conversations with cows raised for the sole purpose of being slaughtered.

You know, I’ve met cows who were just really quite angry with the situation and they actually don’t even interact with other cows anymore. And they don’t really enjoy the circumstances. There are others that get on with it and just don’t mind. There are others that care deeply about the farmers regardless of how they’re treated.

They’re just like us. They have distinguishing personalities and different things to say. And that’s what makes it so incredible to be able to interact with them, just to learn how different they all are, and just to get to know a wider variety of types. It’s quite amazing.

Humanity can learn a number of lessons from the way bovines take care of each at the community-level. In their societies, members live peacefully and civilly together and look out for one another.

It’s really given me far greater insights into how to live in a beautiful, community environment with a really nice social structure. Like cows, there’ll be one who is a nominated leader. But she doesn’t really call herself a leader. She’s just there on level, on par with everybody else. But if there’s any need or any trouble, she comes in as the one that’s always got the responsibility, for example. They’re incredible how they’ll look after each other’s calves. And there’s a real community atmosphere.

You know, your mother is your auntie as well as your grandmother. Everyone takes shared care, often like they do in African cultures and other cultures around the world. They just have all this knowledge they can share with us on how to really live in harmony with each other and with the Earth, and how to be very peaceful and compassionate beings. The wisdom that they have to share I would recommend as something everybody go out of their way to find out, because it’s just incredible.

Ms. Ruckley recalls a profound conversation with one cow that touched her deeply and gave her greater perspective on the beautiful nature of these benevolent beings.

I’ve had a couple of incredible, incredible experiences, probably mostly with cows. One particular cow in Switzerland shared with me what it was like for her when she gave birth for the first time, that feeling of being a mother, and being completely devoted to her calf. And she also shared with me how terrified she was the first time she went into a milking shed.

And one of the most incredible things she shared with me was, right from the beginning when she got in contact with me, she was saying, “I chose to have five daughters because I knew there’s more chance that they’ll be with me.” And the reason for that, of course, is because male calves don’t get to stay at a dairy farm because they won’t ever produce milk, so they’re taken away. So I was really quite fascinated and said, “Well, how did you just choose to have five daughters?”

And the way she explained it to me was just simply through intention, in terms of a very simple, simple way. I got that information before I arrived in Switzerland. I went searching for her. And then I confirmed that when I went through the farmer’s records and I found a record of her. And she actually had five daughters. So it was really quite an incredible situation.

Wayne is Jodi Ruckley’s canine companion and he enjoys such plant-based dishes as vegan hot dogs with tomato sauce! Ms. Ruckley has had talks with Wayne on a variety of subjects including on health and healing.

One of the experiences that is most prominent for me is one with the dog that lives with me called Wayne. He came to me when he was about nine years old. That was about six years ago. And he always had a limp on his right leg. And I tried doing things like swimming and a bit of massage, but nothing was working.

And one day it just dawned on me, “Why don’t I just ask him what can I do for his leg? Is there anything I can do to help?” So I asked him the question and he simply said, “I need an herb.” I said, “Well, which one?” And he said, “Don’t worry, we’ll find it.” And that was it. And I thought, “Okay.” And then the next day I was in Adelaide and I was at some markets buying some fruit and veggie seedlings for a garden that I was doing. I kept being drawn to this one guy who was selling decorative plants. And I kept discounting that, thinking, “What do I want with decorative plants? It’s not what I’m here for.”

But after I walked past for the third time, I thought finally, “I’ll go over, and I’ll just chat to him and ask.” And I said, “Do you sell any medicinal herbs?” And he said, “Well, actually, just one. It’s for arthritis.” I thought, “Oh great!” So I bought it and it was like three dollars, and took it home. And I said to Wayne, “What do I do with this?” because I’d never done anything with herbs before. And he said, “You need to steam it on my leg.”

So I started boiling up some water in a saucepan and added a few leaves, and then when it all started, all the steam coming up, I took Wayne and I held him above the steam, and I was trying to sort of balance him so that all the steam would go on his leg. And he said to me, “That was really quite amusing, but next time you might want to try a tea towel, and then wrap it around my leg.”

And I thought, “Okay.” So anyway, I did this for two or three days, and then he just never limped again. And it was an incredibly prominent limp that you always saw. It was every third kind of step, and it’s just never come back in all that time, and that was really quite amazing.

Wow Wayne you are a truly special canine and a wonderful doctor! We are grateful Jodi Ruckley for your providing intriguing revelations about the deep, inner nature of animals and the wisdom they wish to share with humanity. Your communications help us better understand and appreciate our splendid animal friends and may you continue acting as a bridge between humankind and the animal kingdom for years to come.

For more details on Jodi Ruckley and Our Place on Earth, please visit www.OurPlaceOnEarth.com The book “Through the Eyes of a Cow” and “The Animals You Eat” DVD are available at the same website

Thank you for joining us today on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. Coming up next on Supreme Master Television is Enlightening Entertainment, after Noteworthy News. May we all be blessed with many close and loving relationships with animals.