Mary Getten talks to the animals. And when Mary speaks, the animals listen, and often they talk back. Getten is an animal communications specialist. She said talks to the animals and they answer her and then she helps them with
Mary Getten talks to the animals.
And when Mary speaks, the animals listen, and often they talk back.
Getten is an animal communications specialist. She said talks to the animals and they answer her and then she helps them with their problems.
Getten is bringing her “How to Communicate with Animals” workshop to Kaua`i this weekend. She said she is comfortable on Kaua`i because she is an island person herself. She lives and works on Orcas Island, northwest of Seattle.
“In my world, everyone is connected energetically, and when (clients) are telling me about their animals, it’s like I’m being a satellite dish,” Getten said.
How do the animals talk to Getten?
The owners call Getten and describe their pet and its perceived problem. Then, when she has the picture of the animal in mind, she begins communicating with it telepathically.
“It’s different with each animal. Sometimes I’ll get pictures and then they (the animals) show me where it hurts. Sometimes the animal just makes sounds. You also get feelings, physical or emotional feelings, and sometimes they talk to me in words,” Getten explained. “I’ll get a call about a cat limping and I’ll communicate with him and find out it is in his wrist, not his shoulder.”
Getten loves animals and is reluctant to criticize any individual species.
When asked which is smarter — dogs or cats — Getten wouldn’t bite.
“All animals are smarter than they seem,” Getten said, but added, “They don’t speak our languages.”
Getten said many people think dogs are smarter than cats. But according to Getten, that’s not right.
“They are just different. It’s not that cats don’t understand what you are telling them to do. Often they just don’t want to do it. Dogs have more of a need to please,” Getten said.
Many of Getten’s human clients call because they are concerned with an aspect of their pet’s behavior. How do you win an animal over to your opinion if they aren’t amenable at first?
“You negotiate. I do a lot of negotiating with animals. I communicate with them telepathically,” she said.
Getten said she helps the animals get closer to their owner’s wishes through telepathic negotiations. She helps angry animals work out new, more productive ways to show their owners they are upset.
But each animal, like every individual human being, is different.
“Some animals might respond well to discipline, while other animals respond to rewards,” Getten said.
Ultimately though, as in human therapy, a lot is up to the patient, she noted.
“It depends on the individual animal and how willing they are to change,” she said.
The other major aspect of Getten’s practice deals with weightier issues than, say, a cat not going potty in the litter box.
“I deal with a lot of health issues,” Getten said. “People call and their pet has cancer and they want to know, ‘Is he ready to go? Does he want to be put down?’
“I had a German Shepherd lately who was really ready to go. He was getting more and more depressed. He was dragging his rear around (because of cancer) and his quality of life was sliding. His people really didn’t want to put him down, but it was time.”
Getten said nine out of 10 pet owners are actually in too much of a hurry to put their ailing pets to sleep. But she said the questions are coming from the owners’ love of their pets, not a desire to avoid seeing them suffer.
“The people who call me are not the people who tie their animals up in the backyard,” Getten said.
When she is home on Orcas Island, Getten is surrounded by her own animals. “I have two cats and 12 chickens,’ she said.
And why doesn’t such a dog lover have a dog?
“I would like to get a dog, but my cats don’t want me to,” she related.
Getten is convinced that we are all born with telepathic abilities. She claimed she can also communicate with horses and all of the chickens that run wild on Kaua`i.
Her interest in animal communication began while she was working with injured sea mammals in northern California 15 years ago. She has been studying the Orcas (killer whales) of the Pacific Northwest for years and is planning a book about those huge creatures of the sea.
“I’ve spent several years interviewing these whales about their lives. I will be publishing a full-length book about the Orcas from their perspective,” she stated.
She even believes that we can learn, as she has, to communicate with deceased critters. But Getten makes it clear she is not an animal psychic.
“An animal psychic tunes in to the animal and then gives you information that they have absorbed. They often predict the future. I am an animal communicator,” she said. “An animal communicator talks with your animal and facilitates a two-way conversation for you. You direct the conversation by asking questions or providing information for your animal.”
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
