Day 5: Biking or soapbox derby?

Day 5 miles to/from work: 26.6
Total miles for S4S: 143.6

Day 5 started as another beautiful morning, a few degrees warmer than the past two, but as crisp and green as a Granny Smith apple. Perfect biking weather.

The subject of my "contemplations" on this morning's ride went beyond telling myself bad jokes and defining snot rockets (see Day 4), and were more in keeping with the purpose of this project:  animal rescue. I am wrestling with philosophical questions such as:  Should dumbasses be allowed to own pets? I even Googled this exact phrase, and found the blog post,  "Should Dumbasses Be Allowed to Own Dogs?"  Oh thank the heavens, I'm not the only one with some edgy ideas here.

This line of thought was prompted by looking at one of the lost and found pet links for Bastrop, Texas, the area that has been hard hit by wildfires. I still have roots, family, friends, and a network of animal rescue buddies in Texas; and Monday I was privileged to help with some of the networking in putting help needed and help offered together in both large- and small-animal evacuation efforts. The aforementioned lost and found link was somewhat uplifting when I saw it Monday. When I looked at it this morning, I'm not sure which was more depressing—the number of dogs posted as missing or the descriptions that indicated what nitwits many of the owners are.

Prominent in way too many of the descriptions were "not neutered" and "chained outside" or "in pen outside". Great. These people have family pets that are (or were) unneutered and lived outside. I am so sorry for the devastation these folks have suffered, and this is in no way an indictment of Texas, Bastrop, or any other group of individuals—other than those who continue to support the over-population of cats and dogs, and who treat their pets in ways that make animal rescue necessary. Dumbasses.

Contrast what Dane County Humane Society (DCHS) mandates. Spaying/neutering is a requirement for all animals adopted from DCHS.* Prospective adopters must fill out an adoption application with pertinent information about where they live, their history with pets, where their pets stay (if the answer is "outside chained to a tree", you can pretty much count on that application not making the cut), who will be responsible for feeding, etc. There should be some reciprocity in assuring that the pets will allow their people at least a tiny little place on the bed and maybe even a blanket, but even DCHS has not evolved quite that far or simply didn't realize the hoggish nature of our adoptees.... But I digress.

On another tangent, a recent Madison news story reported, "The man... denied owning a baboon on two separate occasions when questioned by officials." So tell me, just how often are you questioned about your baboon ownership? Yeah, me neither. Ultimately, it turned out the denier had "Monkey", a 3-year-old baboon, living in his basement laundry room. (Hey, he at least had Monkey inside, and reports are that he had provided pretty well for him. Not surprisingly, however, Monkey was not neutered. And need I even mention that the guy falls headfirst under the "dumbass" classification?) DCHS took Monkey in and gave him a home until they were able to find a proper residence at the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary in Texas. This demonstrates a couple of things. First, maybe it's not the pets that should be first in line for the spay/neuter programs. Secondly, DCHS rescues everything. Thank you for supporting them. By the way, if you haven't quite rounded out your Facebook friends, you can send Monkey, the rescued baboon a personal note.

I will now descend from my soapbox and onto my bike. The pictures, each in theory worth 1000 words but far less time-consuming, can speak for themselves about the ride. (I will say that on the ride home I had to detour by the WARF building mid-campus to get my free bus pass for the year, the detour was shorter than my regular route, and as a bonus I got to see the UW marching band rehearse.)

The video below shows Monkey in his new home.
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*Those which, at the time of adoption, are too young for spay/neuter or with special medical needs return for the surgery when they are old enough or in the proper medical condition.