41 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 7-24-17”

  2. Good Morning. I was up at 5 to wait on the dogs, drink coffee, and learn Florida Real Estate Law. I don’t know why I have to memorize how many days a licensee has to respond to this, that, or the other or how many days the Real Estate Commission has to do something. If someone files a complaint against me the first thing I would do is consult an attorney or call the Department to ask how many days, etc. It kind of falls under just knowing “where the library is”. I can understand knowing the LAW so you won’t violate it, but some of this stuff is just to trip you up on answering.

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  3. Here is my Question of the Day:
    Twice recently there has been a post on FB about getting another or new pet. Michelle mentioned the other day that her husband wanted a kitten. She specified that they had not had a KITTEN in 30 years and WHY they wanted it to be a KITTEN not a mature cat. The Adopt Don’t Shop people came out in full force urging her to adopt a full grown cat from a shelter.
    Yesterday a woman posted in a local group about wanting to get a dog. They plain, old fashioned BULLYING that went on was unbelievable. People were posting and begging this woman to adopt a rescue. Adopt don’t shop. Finally another woman and I spoke up. She made the point that she wanted a female Poodle and had tried with a rescue for two years to find one. Finally she bought a Shi Tzu. Oh my you would practically hear the gnashing of teeth and the renting of clothing. (Applying of ashes doesn’t seem to makes as much noise). She kindly pointed out that the rescues and adoption agencies also wanted $400 or more to place an animal with you.
    We are going to lose some of our breeds of dogs if people will only allow a dog to be rescued from a shelter. You would think dog breeders (and yes, I know there are some) were Satan’s Handmaidens. You should never buy from a breeder! They are mercenaries who only breed for the scads of money they can make, blah, blah, blah.
    As you may remember I was turned down from our local no kill shelter because they asked which vet I would use. I told them my friend’s husband’s clinic. They called and since the person who answered the phone didn’t know me that was one reason they cited and the other was that I had an 11 year old HUMAN living with me. That ended up in me finding ( hold your ears and try not to faint), Amos and actually paying the BREEDER for him. Do you know of a more loved or spoiled dog on earth????
    Four years ago Mr. P wanted a dog. We got bullied by the Adopt Don’t Shop Gang. I called around to several of the rescue groups and never got a call back from anyone. We ended up going to the shelter in Pensacola because Mr. P knew someone there and got Lulabelle. She is rotten and ill behaved.
    I am all for people having pets, but sometimes a person has a reason for looking for a specific breed or a puppy or kitten.
    In the past year I contacted a Golden Retriever Rescue about fostering senior dogs (we can no longer call them older, we have to use human terms). I can’t because of Lulabelle.
    Sometime before I die I will have another Golden Retriever puppy. I want to smell puppy breath. No better smell on earth.
    Take that you bullies!

    Oh, the Question? What do you think about this?

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  5. It’s morning and I will be having at least two cups of coffee..one of “those” days!!!
    Bullying i.e. shaming seems to be the politically correct thing to do now days Kim. We love Aussies so that is what we aim for when getting a dog. If I saw one available at a shelter and deemed her to be a good fit I would try to bring her home….we have gotten our dogs from breeders with good results for the most part. What ever happened to picking out a pet and bringing them home? Seems nowadays you must have a home study/rehoming contract/spay/neuter agreement etc etc….and it ends up costing as much from a shelter as it does from a breeder….
    Seems these days I find myself muttering “why can’t people just be nice?”!!!

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  7. Linda, I posted an all points lookout on the blog long ago.
    I think it’s hiding somewhere. Occasionally, I will be sitting in my chair, minding my own business, and I think of another place to look.
    But so far, NOTHING.

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  8. Kim, I’ve already said what I believe on the “adopt, don’t buy” question, and part of it is indeed that we have breeds that are hundreds of years old and breeds that are THOUSANDS of years old ( http://dogtime.com/dog-breeds/pharaoh-hound#/slide/1 ), and we are going to dare say, “Take whatever dog is out there; we forbid you to accept a dog whose owner has followed thousands of years of history in breeding specialized dogs.”

    I have heard it’s a serious issue in California cities and other places that require ALL dogs to be neutered. First of all, AKC shows require show dogs to be intact (breedable), because much of the point (theoretically) is that people are choosing the best dogs within the breed and showing them, and then breeding them. I say “theoretically,” because I actually think that’s a crock: rich people who can avoid the expensive hobby of dog shows are in fact choosing the “best” dogs from the litters and breeding them for themselves, and people who want pets are mostly getting them from litters that don’t include show dogs. Show stock is no healthier than regular dogs and in fact may be less healthy, since inbreeding may be more prevalent among show stock. But still, you can’t spay or neuter a dog and then show it (except in the “open” category–a dog that is already a champion). If you want a spayed dog, then spay it–but don’t tell someone else, “Sorry, you can’t show your dogs anymore, or breed them.”

    It’s a serious problem for police dogs, because they want intact males–they do the job better–and though they can file for exemptions for a specific dog, it has to be done by a certain age, and by that age they don’t yet know which dogs have the rare temperament to be good police dogs. (They have to be aggressive but totally obedient, and very smart.)

    If you could actually succeed in having everyone neuter their dogs, it’s really obvious there would soon be no puppies and a very short time no dogs at all. But the last few dogs available would be feral ones, and the next to last ones would be dogs of very careless owners (and rich people to whom the law doesn’t apply). Make breeding illegal and you lose careful breeders and generations of breeding.

    Get a mongrel if you want one. Get a purebred if you want one!

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  9. Chas- It looks like a box turtle to me, not a duck.

    Kim- Get whatever dog/cat you want at whatever age you want. All the bullying is a symptom of the sickness in society. It started with my generation and the Vietnam War protests-turned-into-riots (can’t call them peace marches), and has grown to the Black Lives Matter crowd, along with the Trump supporters who took his bullying as their M.O. It’s a shame. The media hasn’t helped with the talking heads on cable news channels (FOX included) and their shouting matches.

    So the answer is not to post on social media that you want a pet. Just go look for one until you find it. Oh, and send a private message to the woman telling her where you found your dog.

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  10. Interestingly, before I returned from LA and had this heart-rending plea for a kitten from my husband (JK), my college student relative and I had been discussing the very issue.

    She’s spending her summer home at a kitten nursery a 45 minute drive away. She goes over almost daily to play with kittens.

    She explained that LA County is about to become a no-kill shelter and therefore no animals will be killed. The kittens she plays with are under 2 months of age and they obtain them from local humane society agencies–only a specific number.

    “So, if my cat unexpectedly has kittens, I can’t just drop them off with you?” I asked.

    No. They have to be screened first to make sure they are healthy. They are then quarantined for a week or so at the nursery. Once deemed healthy, they’re released into the room with the other two dozen. No more kittens than two dozen are allowed at one time and they have their own set of what sounded like pretty nice spaces.

    She plays and feeds with them, etc. and loves volunteer task. At two months the kittens are sent to foster homes to be “socialized.”

    I haven’t had a kitten in 38 years–and the one we had was the last in a little born to a neighborhood cat, so I just picked Cleo up and brought her home. Done.

    Now, apparently once the kitten is deemed adoptable by the foster home, it is returned to the shelter, neutered and then available for adoption. No cat or dog can leave a shelter in LA unless they are neutered first.

    “Doesn’t that ultimately mean all cats will go out of existence?” I asked.

    She laughed. There will always be cats. People like my mom bring food and feed wild cats.

    I’m surprised her mother has the time, “Does she trap them and have them neutered, then?”

    Girl looks away. No. Her mother is too busy to do that.

    (Not to mention fastidious). “Doesn’t that contribute to the problem, then?” I ask.

    We went on to other things . . . .

    I told her I don’t see a lot of stray animals in my neighborhoods. Indeed, I only see stray animals overseas. She said they are a real problem in LA these days, some neighborhoods are overrun with cats.

    I have some mostly strong opinions about breeders, the earnest sophomore explained. Some would probably be okay, but not puppy mills.

    Of course not puppy mills. I discussed my glorious Suzie, who came from a breeder and was used for a litter of puppies before papers were signed over to us.

    She allowed that might be okay, especially since Gordon Setters were bred to be hunting dogs. (Though she probably doesn’t approve of hunting . . . . )

    Anyway, interesting and surprising to me. But then, I haven’t had a new cat in 21 years and that one came from the Honolulu Humane Society.

    My work colleague has a friend whose cat unexpectedly had two kittens on Friday. We may just take those two–because who wants to do all the paperwork and be vetted by the local no-kill Humane Society?

    OTOH, my niece the vet volunteered to give me all the neutered kittens I want if I drive to Driggs, Idaho to pick them up.

    Hey, maybe I should have sent Jo that way?

    Jo, are you coming back to California via Nevada?

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  11. There’s a lot of political correctness in animal circles — I also say both choices (pure bred and mixed breeds; buying from reputable breeders or going to a local shelter or breed rescue group) are perfectly valid, the choice is the potential owner’s and what they are looking for. Both options should be available to them, an animal, either way, is finding a new home.

    It’s gotten very nasty in California, though, and the result people won’t even hear of “shopping” not adopting. So yes, best not to tell anyone in these parts where you’re looking for your next pet. The people I know in the dog club have pure bred and they’ve long complained that it’s basically being outlawed in this state.

    I will say there are oodles of kittens in the city shelters out here, so you can easily get one of those. It’s kitten season and there’s an over abundance of them everywhere.

    And mixed breed dogs often have stronger constitutions that pure bred dogs.

    But people should pick the pet that fits them and their family and household the best.

    Hate the bullying that’s so prevalent these days, it’s just getting old.

    And I don’t tell too many people that I actually allow my cat to go outdoors. Gasp, heaven forbid!

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  12. It’s interesting to me, too, that most rescue people are always at war with one another. Can’t tell you how many of the groups I’ve covered just wind up splitting off from one another to start yet another separate group. Animal people who are in rescue work seem not to get along with other people very well. And everyone is so opinionated on “it” should be done (rescuing, rehabbing, adopting), that they seem to find it impossible to join together for very long on the cause.

    The city shelters are easiest to adopt from by law they can’t discriminate — though I think now they do check potential adopters for any record of animal or other abuse issues.

    The rescue groups can be really doctrinaire on who they will and won’t adopt an animal to, they often are ridiculously strict.

    Two cups of coffee for me today, too. Had a dream our whole newsroom, with the exception of 1-2 people, were set to leave taking the buyouts (which might not end up being far from reality). Strange & unsettling days for us ahead, prayers appreciated.

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  13. We’ve had friends unable to adopt a dog from our “humane” shelter because they had a child and the shelter folks deemed them to not have enough time to attend to the animal’s needs.

    I think it has a lot to do with world view. In my community, we have many wealthy people with few, if any, children. Animals become far more important than children or other families.

    Somedays you seemingly see more animals in the stores than children!

    Case in point, someone donated a brand new washer and dryer to “anyone who had need,” through the local radio station. They did a poll. The overwhelming choice was not a needy family but the overly wealthy humane society so they could wash and dry their towels quicker.

    Ridiculous.

    And I don’t want to talk about how those animals are treated far better than homeless people, or even large families in general. Air conditioned cages, one per animal . . . I don’t even have air conditioning.

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  14. Texas sunsets and sunrises are nice. We will later drive to the conference location. Louisiana with cloud cover late in the day was quite pleasant (at a rest area where I dined on bean salad). The Mississippi welcome center on the river at Vicksburg was the best welcome center I have been to for its view.

    All this about the dogs reminds me of the Sharia law that bans dogs.

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  15. World view is the central part of it, Michelle. Without the biblical understanding that man is unique in God’s creation — created in His image and thus with more inherent worth than the animals, though that certainly also means we are, as the pinnacle of His creation, are also charged with compassionately caring for and nurturing the rest of it because, after all, it is all “good.”

    But if all life forms are of equal worth, then, yes, companion animals (or coyotes, for that matter) carry as much worth as human beings, it’s all the same.

    To me, that’s the whole crux of the divide. When one of the no-nonsense coyote scientists I talk to frequently said matter-of-factly “There is a hierarchy among life forms,” I instantly realized how odd and “wrong” that would sound to so many people in California in 2017.

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  16. And granted, companion animals do hold a special place among mankind, I believe God provided many of the animals as both work helpmates and for comfort to us.

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  21. One of the things that doesn’t make sense to me about “you have a child, you cannot have an animal” is that most of us animal lovers grew up having pets. Many of us yearned for pets before our parents considered us old enough to have them, or we started with guppies or hamsters when what we really wanted was a dog or a horse.

    But now suddenly you can’t have a pet unless you’re an adult . . . and childless?

    These people don’t live in the real world. And I wish they would leave ours alone.

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  23. I’m grateful for our SPCA. Older male cats are neutered and then offered to people with farms or acreages with heated outbuildings. The cats get to live. The people get rodent control and most of the cats we’ve had from there have been pretty friendly. You have to fill out a one page form and they request a donation, but that’s it! These cats would be unlikely to find a home as most people want kittens.

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  25. There’s a fort?

    I will say that the rescue folks have seen their share of horror stories so they can become over protective in placements. But overall they have become overly so. That’s partly why I’ve tried to stay in touch with the breed rescue people I’ve dealt with before in adopting my animals — they are much more likely to easily adopt to past clients.

    The other day I found Tess’ original “adopt me” flyer, it was so cute. 🙂 Wish I could find the original photo of Cowboy they sent me, he was one sad sack of a dog, way underweight and his head hanging down with the saddest look on his face.

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  26. Well of course there is a fort. What kind of school would it be without a fort. Wait, that sounds dangerous. What kind of school has a fort??????

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  29. Are you still napping, Jo are you ready to get back to work on educating my children? I have been outside reading with the small folk.

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  30. Fortunately, DJ, I shop Cabelas and have a nice pop up outhouse and a bucket. We are set. And my solar eclipse glasses came in the other day. We plan to watch from our deck, though we are not quite in the band.

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  31. I just realized that in my life, as an adult, that I have adopted three grown cats that each ended up being given to other good homes, and I have adopted three kittens. The first two were kittens from my parent’s cat, Mama San. Art and I named them Trouble and Tribble. And then we were rescued by Miss Bosley. We had another kitten for a very short time that we named Puffkin. I did not count it because it basically stayed in our carport and seemed attached to one of our car tired. I guess you could say it was feral. I could only touch it when it was asleep. Something got it, and I found it still alive but with maggots on it. I was very sad. Art and I took it to an animal hospital, but it was too far gone to save.

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  32. My cousin in the valley north of LA has lost three Pomeranians to an owl in the last six months. She’s got a recently adopted one of the same breed who was attacked and that’s how they know it was an owl. She’s been grieving all over FB and it’s so very sad.

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  33. Finding some inspiration for my old homes story from old-house bloggers:

    http://www.countryliving.com/real-estate/news/g3530/8-old-house-renovation-blogs-you-need-to-follow/

    Favorite quotes:

    “Hiding within these walls reside the secrets held by families for the last 300 years. They whisper colors and textures of the past. They tell us the growing heights of the children that played in these rooms. They give us glimpses back in time to the romantic sorts of events that would have been held.”

    “This week, my house feels like it is getting torn to shreds, and the copious amounts of dust and disorder that I haven’t experienced since demo’ing a couple plaster ceilings a few years ago is back with a vengeance. I couldn’t be happier about it. Progress once again. Feels good.”

    “As we are quickly approaching the fifteenth year of our five-year project, the question I hear most often from friends, neighbors, and curious onlookers is: “So…when will you be finished?”

    “Poor husband didn’t know there was more than one shade of yellow.”

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  34. Meanwhile, latest email subject line is: 4 popular homes in Kamiah, Lewiston and White Bird

    But weird because a couple of them look like hillsides only with nothing on them so i suppose that means I’d have to build my own fort or something.

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  36. If you people happen to hear any odd stories about mice, they are probably way overblown. Especially if it involves a crazy woman with a broom. Just sayin….

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  41. Okay, so a few days ago, I caught a mouse in a kitchen trap. She happened to be a lactating female so I knew the babies, if old enough, would be coming out seeking her shortly. They did. It was ugly. Caught one of the babies in a trap this morning. Sad. But sadder if they grow up in my house and make people sick.

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