Are Pets Appropriate For Urban Areas?

            So far this week I've been putting on the dog about my caring for pets.  I was serious yesterday about having had some good dog friends in my past and the concern that I expressed on Tuesday about abandoned pets is genuine, however, at the risk of incurring the wrath of what I know to be a legion of pet lovers who sometimes read this blog, I must confess here that I am not a huge fan of household pets.

             Please let me explain my position before you stop reading this and write me off forever.   I like animals, but I am in no means a PETA extremist.   I eat meat, but I don't think animals being raised for meat should be abused unnecessarily.  I don't have a big problem with zoos and circuses as long as animals in these institutions are cared for and respected.  And I believe that humans have been given a responsibility to be good stewards of the Earth and it's creatures.

            I have made a choice not to have pets and I would probably never want to have an animal cohabitating within my living space.  Many pet owners are very careful about cleanliness and hygiene, while others are not.  There have been times when I have visited the home of a pet owner where the environs appear very unclean and smell badly.   Sometimes I will leave a place such as this with pet hair covering my clothes--not something I really like.

             The irresponsible pet owners are the ones I am concerned about when we start condensing human population in an urban setting.   How do we determine who is capable of responsible pet ownership?  We already have the problem of people who have no business having children becoming irresponsible parents thereby creating a serious problem.  These are the same kinds of people who become irresponsible pet owners.

             Despite ordinances about animal waste and noise, this is still a nuisance situation in some communities.  Unpleasant odors emanating from homes and yards and issues of insects and other pests can cause discomfort and threaten the health of the community.  Then there is the issue of dangerous animals or animals who attack or threaten humans or other animals.  An urban animal undergoes some of the same stress as humans can and may react in inappropriate ways or may suffer bad health effects. 

            Living in the city can be bad enough putting all sorts of different humans in close proximity, but when you add animals to the mix it can create a more disruptive situation.  There might be solutions that could work to some extent.  In Los Angeles I have heard of condos that cater especially to pet owners.  Some neighborhoods offer dog parks. 

            I would prefer that no pets be permitted in my neighborhood.  At times I have been annoyed by the barking of neighbors' dogs.  Stepping in dog poop in my yard has been an unpleasant experience on more than one occasion.  Recently my wife was charged by a large dog as we took our  granddaughter to the pool--pets are not permitted at the pool and I was placed in a confrontational situation with the neighbor who had brought the dog.

          If I lived on a farm, in the country, or an open suburban area I would probably have an outside dog.  I might even consider an outside cat if rodent control was an issue.  I'm not against pets like these.  But as long as I live in an urban area like Los Angeles I don't plan to own any pets and I would prefer not to be subjected to the pets of others.

           What is your opinion?

Do you think pets are appropriate in crowded urban areas?

        What solutions do you think are appropriate?   Should people be required to undergo education programs and testing to see if they are qualified to own pets?  Do you have a pet horror story you'd like to share?
           
           At the top of this post is a picture of some recent stamps offered by the U.S. Postal Service.  The Animal Rescue Adopt a Shelter Pet stamps picture some dogs and cats that have been adopted from animal shelters.  The stamps, released  on April 30th, were part of a campaign to raise awareness for pet adoption.  The postal service also has a number of related items for collectors or for gift giving.  You may still be able to find these stamps at your local post office.

And Now For the Sticky Topic I Meant to Talk about Last Week But Got Carried Away Complaining About Things I Probably Can't Do That Much About.....

      Did you think I was kidding last week?  I actually did get carried away in my post of last Tuesday and got off subject with a negative rant against government agencies.  In reality, I am pretty darn pleased with the United States Postal Service.   I think they do a great job of getting our mail to us in a timely manner (even if it is mostly junk mail) and it is one governmental agency that is run like a business for the most part.  They have quite an array of retail products available, my favorite being the stamps--most specifically the commerative stamps.

       In my adolecent and preteen years I was an avid stamp collector.  During the 50s and 60s we often heard about hobbies and having a hobby was highly encouraged for kids.  A number of hobbies were promoted in special sections of the variety stores of the day such as Ben Franklin, Woolworth's, and Kresge's--stores that were often referred to as "five and dime stores".  Even some of the larger department stores such as May Company would have a stamp counter much like one might see the jewelry or perfumes counters.  Shopping expeditions with my mother were always looked forward to as a time when I would be able to explore the world of stamps and if I were fortunate enough to have some spending money I might invest in my hobby.

       There were many options available to the novice stamp collector like me.  For prices ranging from ten cents to a couple of dollars or more, one could buy varying packets of stamps from different countries to fill the empty spaces in their stamp album.  If one wanted to be more adventurous, they might opt for a large stamp assortment that might guarentee many different stamps or even large assortments that were unsorted and might contain duplicates.  Some of these assortments were giant bags of stamps still on the paper backing of the envelopes from which they were torn.  An assortment of stamps could literally provide hours of entertainment as one sorted through them and mounted them in a stamp album.

        Stamp collecting was an education.  I learned a great deal about geography as I would memorize country names and look them up on a map; politics from the stamps that depicted world leaders and country flags and symbols; history in the depictions of events and famous people; arts, culture, sports, and the list goes on.  Depictions of everything can be found on postage stamps.  Some stamps were mundane and utilitarian in appearance, while others were beautiful or just outright interesting.

         A stamp collector can start a general collection of stamps from around the globe.  Or a collector might specialize in collecting stamps from just the United States or some specific country; topical themes such as sports, animals, transportation or any specific topic; or even oddly shaped stamps such as triangular, diamond-shaped, or round stamps--any topic or theme is fair game for a collector.  They can be mounted in albums, display cases, or frames --however a collector wishes to present their collection. 

        My stamp albums and organized files still remain in my closet.  I don't intend to get rid of the collection anytime soon and it is there for me to break out any time.  As far as I know, there are no longer stamp sections in variety stores.  Independent stamp stores are not as common as they once were.  I still see ads in magazines and Sunday newspaper coupon inserts presenting special  offers to stamp collectors who wish to pursue the hobby through mail order.

         The U.S. Post Office still promotes stamps as collectables.  Even though I would not call myself a very active stamp collector, at the post office I still sometimes purchase stamps that interest me to add to my collection.  Stamp collecting choices are now so vast that it might be difficult for a novice collector to know where to start collecting and what to do once you start.

           Stamp collecting is a wonderful hobby and I would highly encourage parents to help their children start a stamp collection.   It is the kind of hobby in which the entire family can participate and find enjoyment. Much like a board game or a jigsaw puzzle or other similar activities, the family can sit around the table exploring the world through postage stamps.

        Are there any stamp collectors out there?   Did you collect stamps as a child?  If you did and stopped, why did you stop?   What are some of the other hobbies of collecting in which you readers participate?

    

And Now For A Really Sticky Topic...

        No, it's not Debate Day.  On Tossing It Out Debate Day is on Thursday--that's when I sometimes bring up some really sticky topics.  Today I have a sticky topic of a different nature.  However, let me preface by noting that if all levels and offices of federal, state, and local governments in the United States were businesses most of them would have gone under years ago. If government were actually operated like a business things would be a lot different.

        On Tuesdays I often do reviews, so today I'd like to offer an extremely superficial review of government offices in the United States.  Now I know I have some readers who work for some kind of governmental office and I'm sure this is not directed toward you because any reader of this blog could only be a high quality individual with  good ethics and work habits.  This rant review is directed toward those government workers who would be too ignorant to read a blog or just don't care about the quality of their work.  This is the anti-paean to the slovenly workers who suck up the hard-earned money you and I pay in taxes.

          This will not even touch those members of the executive, legislative, and judicial branch of the government who are supposed to be serving us.  That's a whole different topic.  And this certainly doesn't include any of our terrific military personnel who do such a great job keeping this country safe.  I'm just talking about the regular employed workers out there who are supposedly providing a service but are doing it poorly.  So before I begin let me apologize to all you good, honest, caring workers (you know who you are) and say this is not about you, but it's about some of your co-workers (you probably know who they are) and some of the incompetent decision-makers on the upper levels. 

        As an aside I should say I've gotten way off track from the topic  I was planning on talking about today, but it can wait.  What first inspired the direction of todays off-the-track post was an experience in the Post Office last week.  I was going to buy some stamps and I was mislead-- or perhaps just misinformed.  Whatever it was it was wrong. 

        When I buy stamps, I just buy one "book" at a time.  It's not really a "book" it's a small card of stamps. Since I buy in small quantities I always request the commemeratives (the pretty stamps).  On this visit the employee at the counter convinced me that I should buy the "Forever Stamps" (the ones that are good for any price hike in the future) because the prices were going to go up soon.  I took the bait and bought the "Forevers".  I have dealt with this lady at the Post Office before and she seems like a nice enough person so I trusted her.   What I forgot to ask was how much of an increase there was going to be.

      Later, I went to the United States Postal Service website to get info about the increase but there was nothing about any increase of first class letter rates.  I called the 800 number--they said there would be no increase this year.  Who do I believe?  The lady at the Post Office had a whole story--a sales pitch--complete with a poster of upcoming stamps and how they weren't keeping many 44 cent stamps in their inventory because the new stamps would be coming soon.  Now I'll be having the Liberty Bell on all of my outgoing mail for the next few weeks when I could have had the Simpsons and Chinese New Year.  I love the Liberty Bell and all, but on every darn letter?

     And this right after a couple of unpleasant visits to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.  I'm sure we all have unpleasant DMV stories no matter what state we're in, but in California we have the added unpleasantness of the employee furlough days so the incompetent California government can save money to pay for the legislators.  At the rate they are handing out drivers licenses to illegals they should just give all of us legal folks a license that will last us the rest of our lives so we don't have to deal with the DMV anymore. And don't even bring the Smog Testing scam--I'm sure Al Gore loves this one.  The next scam the CA thieves of government want to impose is tire inflation testing -- I can hardly wait.  Instead of worrying about the air in our tires, they should be worrying about the hot air in the windbags in Sacramento who are trying to run our lives.

      But the actual thing that really ticked me off was a recent report that baggage loss for air travelers had gone down due to increased scrutiny of all baggage handlers.  The airline employees were responsible for some losses, but the biggest concern had been theft by employees of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).   Excuse me?   Am I missing something here?  The folks that are supposed to be providing security to us fliers may be possibly stealing things out of our suitcases.   What kind of security is that?  If a TSA employee can take things out of our suitcases can't they put a bomb in one if they want to?  Here we are lined up like cattle getting thoroughly examined like criminals and some Somalian with known terrorist ties merrily hops on board with a bomb in his underpants.  It just makes me wonder if the TSA is screening the right people.

          Now please don't get me wrong.  I love my country and the United States government does many things efficiently.  I seem to get all of my mail in a timely manner and the roads are better here than they are in a lot of places.  I've never personally had to grease the palm of any public official although I'm sure some of that is being done at some level and probably mostly by corporations and lobbyists.  I've got my power, water, and televison so I guess regulation is under control.  As long the bread and circuses keep us all happy we should thank our governments.

         Stayed tuned for next Tuesday's post:  And Now For the Sticky Topic I Meant to Talk about Last Week But Got Carried Away Complaining About Things I Probably Can't Do That Much About.....

God Bless America