Breaking Chains: How Orinda Pets Are Redefining 'Lost' on Their Terms

Doctor Majors in her Moraga office. She also sees patients in Orinda, if it fits her schedule (1)(3)

Orinda, CA: Dr. Carol Majors, a distinguished pet psychologist, challenges the traditional narrative surrounding missing pets. A thought-provoking question is at the heart of her inquiry: Are pets truly lost or simply exercising their sense of agency and autonomy?

Carol, who delivered a compelling talk at the 2019 Ted Pets conference, is deeply concerned with what she perceives as "speciesism" — a bias where humans might impose their interpretations and limitations on the actions and intentions of other species without fully understanding them from the animal's perspective.

"How would you feel if every time you went on vacation, your pet posted flyers around town claiming you were lost?" Carol posits, highlighting the often one-sided perspective of human-pet relationships. She suggests that what we commonly interpret as a pet being lost could, in fact, be an animal taking a sabbatical, exploring its environment, or conducting an informal study of its living conditions compared to those of other local pets.

"The term 'pet' inherently implies a dynamic of ownership and control," Carol explains. "This reflects a profound power imbalance that we need to address. "Like most issues today, the first step is using the right terms," stated Dr. Majors.

Dr. Majors, in her quest to foster better understanding and communication between pets and their human companions, has introduced a groundbreaking approach. She has initiated separate counseling sessions for pets and their owners, an innovative and effective method. Her unique technique involves creating a word cloud from each session to capture the essence of the discussions. This comes in a typical visual format for human clients, but for canine participants, the 'word' clouds are an array of scents, a method that has never been used before.

Dr. Majors analyzes these scents using a gas chromatograph, a technique she perfected in collaboration with the Orinda Police Department's forensic lab. This method allows her to translate olfactory data into insights pet owners can understand, bridging the communication gap between species. (2)

While Dr. Majors is dedicated to improving local pet-human relationships, she is also driven by academic ambitions. She hopes to publish her findings and secure tenure, recognizing the importance of her work in the broader field of animal psychology. Her contributions are not just significant for individual pet owners, but they also have the potential to shape the future of pet psychology, inspiring hope and optimism in the audience.

Dr. Majors is keenly aware of the importance of maintaining a manageable caseload. She believes this is essential for providing high-quality care to each client and maintaining her well-being, including her commitment to daily yoga practices. This balance, she believes, is crucial for the effectiveness of her professional interventions, reassuring the audience of her commitment to their pets and her own health.

As the Orinda community contemplates Carol's provocative ideas, it becomes clear that traditional views on pet ownership are evolving. Carol Majors isn't just a pet psychologist; she's a pioneer advocating for a deeper, more respectful relationship between humans and their animal companions.

Footnotes:

1) Notice that Patches is collar-free. The first step to autonomy

2) An earlier article criticized the Orinda Police Department Forensics lab for not having its own mass spectrometer, which is still the case.

3) What is Orinda’s gas chromatograph doing in her Moraga office?