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Post by mickthecactus on Jun 8, 2022 20:19:51 GMT
This is not just a pet peeve. It’s a peeve about pets.
Our little dog died of old age last October and we’d like to get a new dog. Puppies cost a fortune so we are happy to give a rescue dog a good home with owners who have had dogs for over 30 years. Easy? Like f*** it is.
On the TV is a regular programme called The Dog House. Apparently all you do is turn up at the door, ask for a dog (preferably with a sob story about addiction, money worries, whatever), they find one, you meet up and go home together. Easy? No,no, no.
What actually happens is you find one on the site and register your interest. You then have to complete a questionnaire ( the longest had 72 questions) and possibly submit a video of your home and garden which they then pick apart and make you feel totally unworthy of having one of their dogs.
So far I have applied for 4 dogs on different sites without getting even vaguely close.
The last one that rang me to point out all the problems e.g. the garden door opening outwards so the dog could possibly escape got it in the ear big time so my chances of getting a dog from there are next to nil.
Rant over.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 8, 2022 21:01:10 GMT
I do understand the point of caution and questionnaires when adopting out dogs. People who really shouldn't have even a pet rock see a cute mutt (or a fancy breed they like in the same way people like jewelry) and promise to love it forever ...... or until they get tired of it, or until it craps in the house, or until they have walk it in the rain, etc.
But people like you and the infinitely wonderful Mrs. Cactus are 100% the kind of humans dogs want and need. The officious pinhead who worried about the door opening outward (as do MOST exterior doors!) should not be in charge of anything more taxing than changing the water bowls at the shelter.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jun 8, 2022 21:05:00 GMT
Bixa, your first para is absolutely right.
One rescue site told us we lived too far away! That's our problem, not theirs. We also think our age is a barrier although not all sites ask our age.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 8, 2022 21:34:16 GMT
One rescue site told us we lived too far away! Too far away from what??!
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Post by fumobici on Jun 8, 2022 23:22:56 GMT
I hang out with other dog people and hear those stories here too. Bottom line: rescue organizations tend to be staffed by cruel sociopaths or it's a border-line scam where they are against all logic and commonsense unnecessarily sourced from thousands of miles away when there are dogs in local shelters that could be adopted. The breed specific ones are the worst. Run away screaming.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 9, 2022 2:02:09 GMT
It’s especially galling if a shelter would turn away potential dog or cat owners and then end up euthanizing the unadoptable animals…
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Post by bjd on Jun 9, 2022 6:41:28 GMT
For a while I vaguely toyed with the idea of getting a dog. On the Bon Coin website (people can buy/sell anything from cars to clothes to houses to toys...), there is a section for animals. I am amazed at how many people get rid of dogs and cats. Right now there are tons of kittens being given away but also puppies and adult dogs and cats.
There are a few animal charities who say you have to apply and pay over 200€ for the animal, but the number of border collies and bulldogs given away by individuals is incredible. Often the "giver" asks for some money to cover vaccinations but quite few are being given away. Some people say they have moved into an apartment, or changed jobs and are away too much and the dog doesn't like to be alone so much, or family separations. Various reasons. Lots of hunting dogs like setters too. Just looking within my department and neighbouring ones, there are currently over 270 (dogs and cats).
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Post by mickthecactus on Jun 9, 2022 8:10:48 GMT
We can only take a small dog and the sites are packed with bulldogs, staffies, lurchers, German Shepherds etc. Small dogs (other than snappy Chihuahuas) are at a premium.
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Post by bjd on Jun 9, 2022 9:41:07 GMT
Lots of chihauhuas here too, mostly for sale. A few small dogs but the ones that go fastest are golden retrievers (rare to find) and the occasional small dog, unless it's really old.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 9, 2022 11:41:52 GMT
When my parents were living in Béziers, they had rich American friends living in Le-Grau-du-Roi (met during a Mediterranean cruise) who had an adorable Lucas terrier which they had bought in England. My parents fell in love with it, and it was the correct size for apartment living, so the friends brought a Lucas puppy back on their next trip to England, which my parents paid for (the dog, not the trip to England), something I never thought they would ever do. These dogs are expensive enough that the colour of the fur is called "champagne" instead of yellow.
It was a nice dog and finished its life in North Carolina.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 9, 2022 14:00:08 GMT
Chihuahuas get a bad rap because owners often don't treat them like dogs and turn them into neurotic yappers. They can be very sweet pets and are smart and nosey little guys.
Lots of them wind up in shelters because people get them because they saw a cute one on tv or something or just randomly bought a small dog without realizing that small dogs do more than sleep on your lap.
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Post by fumobici on Jun 9, 2022 14:43:55 GMT
WE had a tiny, white Chihuahua regular at the local dog park named iPod. My big German Shepherd is pretty much the alpha dog there but she wanted no part of iPod. That dog took exactly zero shit from anyone.
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Post by casimira on Jun 9, 2022 16:12:48 GMT
For a long period of time when I was still living in NY and spent most of my summers at my mother's house where wealthy NYCers would rent exorbitant homes for their families there was a large demand for dogs that would be adopted. They would be adopted mainly because the families were filthy rich and make a huge donation to the shelters where the dogs were up for adoption. At the end of the season there were many, many dogs left behind as the families didn't want to take them back to their NYC homes.
Finally, the shelters initiated stricter adoption policies in order for these families adopt a dog. An organization named ARF (Animal Relief Fund) came into being and there were many local volunteers that assisted in the screening process, and it really did make a difference over a period of time. They also opened a thrift store that had fabulous bargains and my mother did volunteer work for them. Tons of high-end clothing, books, furniture and other goodies helped them stay afloat along with donations from animal lovers. (Most of the clothing was summertime wear and because NOLA is for most part warm year round, I scored a lot of really great items).
It still remains a problem but is much improved from what it had been.
I could never understand how the parents of families could be so cruel and negligent and what an awful precedent it set for their children.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 9, 2022 16:37:41 GMT
It was exactly the same in the apartment building next to my office. Saudi families would spend the summer there and their children would demand to have pets. When it was time to go home, they would just abandon the animals, since dogs are haram (unclean and forbidden) in Saudi Arabia (this is changing, but not fast).
These rentals cost a fortune, because normally the carpets and other things had to be changed at the end of the rental. It was beneath the family members to actually take dogs outside for a walk, so they would just shit and piss everywhere.
To be fair, at my very first job in Paris, one of my colleagues asked me if I could replace him for a dogsitting gig one evening because he had better things to do. The dog owner was one of the managers of the company, a very dignified British woman called Stella. The elegant flat was covered with dog shit, although the main shitting area appeared to be under the dining room table. I actually took the ratty little terrier for a walk around the block, and it pulled against me all the way to the halfway point. The moment I turned the corner taking us back in the direction of the flat, it pulled me in that direction with all of its pitiful force.
That evening marked me forever.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jun 9, 2022 16:44:17 GMT
What a disgusting story.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jun 9, 2022 16:46:53 GMT
WE had a tiny, white Chihuahua regular at the local dog park named iPod. My big German Shepherd is pretty much the alpha dog there but she wanted no part of iPod. That dog took exactly zero shit from anyone. Our last dog was a Yorkshire Terrier cross who bullied my daughter’s Beagle unmercifully. He accepted every bit of it and never once retaliated.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 11, 2022 0:09:04 GMT
Our neighborhood is experiencing a trauma of sorts and we are being made out as horrible people with no empathy for the homeless.
What happened is this: on Monday new neighbors contacted me through the city website as the contact person for our homeowners association. Their email said that they noticed a tent pitched in our common area which is a brushy 15-acre creekside woods adjacent to homes (including theirs and mine). This is the first time in the 36 years I’ve lived here that something like this has happened.
Not wanting to confront this person directly, they called the sheriff’s office which responded by sending deputies up to give the young man a warning to move on. (This is private land, so he was trespassing.) Other neighbors had seen him pushing a shopping cart up the road - and we are at least 5 miles from the nearest store that has shopping carts - and still other neighbors passed him pushing his fully-loaded cart back down the trail after his eviction.
We are concerned not just because he was trespassing, but because we live in a freaking pine forest and an escaped campfire could take out all our homes! Hard to imagine someone camping out without a cooking fire or warming fire or just a campfire to keep them company.
So, I posted about this incident on the Grant Creek Trail Facebook page and got attacked by several of our fair city’s homeless advocates. They were so insistent that we were disrespecting the homeless for pushing a shopping cart “which isn’t illegal” (however if it was stolen from a store, it technically IS illegal). And trespassing on private land is for sure illegal.
And there is no spot for legal camping in our entire valley, with no public parks and no public toilets and no public garbage cans. And as the entire valley is in the Wildland-Urban Interface and at great risk for forest fires - especially since climate changes have worsened our fire seasons in recent years - and we have only one road leading out of our valley and one road in for first responders, so avoiding fire starts is key to our neighborhood’s continued survival.
So, to complicate matters, at this time our neighborhood is fighting a developer’s request to rezone 44 acres to a zoning designation that could allow a doubling or tripling of our valley’s population. The developer wants to build market rate 4-story apartments with a one bedroom one bath unit going for $1450 and 2 BR, 2 BA units starting over $2000! a month. Up to 1100 apartments.
Existing zoning allows 495 units (344 apartments in 3-story buildings and 156 small-lot single family homes, and our neighborhood has come out strongly in favor of the existing zoning, even though it, too, would be a big increase in the valley’s population and traffic congestion on our single undersized road. The total number of residential addresses in the valley is 635, so adding 495 is a 78% increase, but we are supporting it, not saying “no development!”
But we get lambasted for being “wealthy exclusionary NIMBYs” who don’t want to “do our share” to provide much needed housing blah blah blah. Never mind that these “market rate” apartments will be out of reach for working stiffs, and will not increase affordable housing at all.
Instead, folks are now conflating our concern about campfires in the woods and opposition to a doubling or tripling of our population to a lack of empathy for the homeless and for renters.
I’ve been dodging virtual bullets left and right, editing my posts and blocking abusive posters and deleting off-topic screeds about homelessness. Not how I want to spend my time.
And we still need to marshall forces to prevent the city council from granting this rezoning request, which will totally overwhelm the traffic infrastructure with no guarantees that the developer would be required to pay for needed infrastructure upgrades…
Ay-yi-yi !
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 11, 2022 4:38:27 GMT
Are you now officially a Karen?
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Post by bjd on Jun 11, 2022 5:47:38 GMT
It looks like another situation where various issues get lumped together and confused and social media with its immediate reactions pours fuel on the flames.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 11, 2022 14:17:53 GMT
Not just social media. Even the newspaper articles and TV news spots are focusing on the wrong issues. City Councils like to hand out goodies, not spend money on fixing what they break by handing out these goodies.
They tend to approve development without planning for or funding the infrastructure upgrades necessitated by these developments, leaving the unfunded infrastructure backlog for future city councils to deal with. It’s wrong and it’s stupid. But “We need housing!”
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Post by fumobici on Jun 11, 2022 14:26:55 GMT
Our neighborhood is experiencing a trauma of sorts and we are being made out as horrible people with no empathy for the homeless. What happened is this: on Monday new neighbors contacted me through the city website as the contact person for our homeowners association. Their email said that they noticed a tent pitched in our common area which is a brushy 15-acre creekside woods adjacent to homes (including theirs and mine). This is the first time in the 36 years I’ve lived here that something like this has happened. Not wanting to confront this person directly, they called the sheriff’s office which responded by sending deputies up to give the young man a warning to move on. (This is private land, so he was trespassing.) Other neighbors had seen him pushing a shopping cart up the road - and we are at least 5 miles from the nearest store that has shopping carts - and still other neighbors passed him pushing his fully-loaded cart back down the trail after his eviction. We are concerned not just because he was trespassing, but because we live in a freaking pine forest and an escaped campfire could take out all our homes! Hard to imagine someone camping out without a cooking fire or warming fire or just a campfire to keep them company. So, I posted about this incident on the Grant Creek Trail Facebook page and got attacked by several of our fair city’s homeless advocates. They were so insistent that we were disrespecting the homeless for pushing a shopping cart “which isn’t illegal” (however if it was stolen from a store, it technically IS illegal). And trespassing on private land is for sure illegal. And there is no spot for legal camping in our entire valley, with no public parks and no public toilets and no public garbage cans. And as the entire valley is in the Wildland-Urban Interface and at great risk for forest fires - especially since climate changes have worsened our fire seasons in recent years - and we have only one road leading out of our valley and one road in for first responders, so avoiding fire starts is key to our neighborhood’s continued survival. So, to complicate matters, at this time our neighborhood is fighting a developer’s request to rezone 44 acres to a zoning designation that could allow a doubling or tripling of our valley’s population. The developer wants to build market rate 4-story apartments with a one bedroom one bath unit going for $1450 and 2 BR, 2 BA units starting over $2000! a month. Up to 1100 apartments. Existing zoning allows 495 units (344 apartments in 3-story buildings and 156 small-lot single family homes, and our neighborhood has come out strongly in favor of the existing zoning, even though it, too, would be a big increase in the valley’s population and traffic congestion on our single undersized road. The total number of residential addresses in the valley is 635, so adding 495 is a 78% increase, but we are supporting it, not saying “no development!” But we get lambasted for being “wealthy exclusionary NIMBYs” who don’t want to “do our share” to provide much needed housing blah blah blah. Never mind that these “market rate” apartments will be out of reach for working stiffs, and will not increase affordable housing at all. Instead, folks are now conflating our concern about campfires in the woods and opposition to a doubling or tripling of our population to a lack of empathy for the homeless and for renters. I’ve been dodging virtual bullets left and right, editing my posts and blocking abusive posters and deleting off-topic screeds about homelessness. Not how I want to spend my time. And we still need to marshall forces to prevent the city council from granting this rezoning request, which will totally overwhelm the traffic infrastructure with no guarantees that the developer would be required to pay for needed infrastructure upgrades… Ay-yi-yi ! Building commercially developed housing, while always put forward as the answer, will never help the homeless who cannot afford anything a commercial developer looking for maximum returns will ever build. That canard is pushed by real estate developers who don't GAF about homelessness, but very much GAF about making profits by corrupting the zoning and permitting processes to allow unfettered development. Local governments in the US tend to be run and owned on behalf of real estate developers who have the most monetary incentive to rig the political system to maximize their personal wealth. Nobody with any financial connection to real estate development should be allowed anywhere near local government.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 11, 2022 14:53:40 GMT
Agreed, fumobici.
Local housing advocates are saying that even adding market rate housing provides a trickledown effect that increases vacancy rates, in theory lowering rents.
BUT, the pandemic has changed all that. People who are suddenly able to work remotely can move to desirable places to live and recreate and newcomers are sucking up all the new and much of the existing housing. Landlords, seeing what new apartments are going for, have been raising the rents when their existing tenants’ leases run out, forcing many of them to look for housing elsewhere. Every business has “Help Wanted” or “Now Hiring” signs in their windows as the worker bees are being displaced.
Homes and condos bought by new-comers USED to go back on the market after the disillusioned owners had spent a winter or two in Montana, but the current crop of owners can afford to hang onto these homes and condos as a summer retreat from the heat and crowds of the big cities they came from and returned to.
We are building it and they are coming, but in the process, WE are losing our homes.
This is different from before. We cannot build our way to affordability and ending homelessness this time.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 11, 2022 15:04:00 GMT
Even though Paris is one of the most expensive cities in the world, it is close to meeting the objective of 25% social (subsidized) housing. Right now it is at 23%. Some arrondissements are far ahead of others -- the 19th is at 42.5%, the 13th is at 42.3% and the 20th is at 36.4%. Just imagine if ever the developers could get their hands on those buildings, tear them down (not all but most of them) and replace them with luxury apartments. If you look at the rich arrondissements, the contrast is stark: 2.2% for the 7th arrondissement, 3.7% for the 6th and 7.2% for the 16th. Whenever the city plans to convert a building (such as the former Ministry of Defence in the 7th), the pearl necklaces start rattling threateningly like chains because it is out of the question to lower the standards of the area with "those people."
So we'll meet the objective of 25%, but it is really hard to get the people to mix.
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Post by casimira on Jun 11, 2022 17:57:51 GMT
We are experiencing a similar but different situation here in NOLA.
There are 2 major universities here whose enrollment is at full capacity. There isn't enough dormitory to house all these students.
So, greedy developers are snatching up properties in the University section, very, very close to where we live. They convert them from being "doubles" which are designed to accommodate 2 families. The developers then convert them into "dorms" by adding on to the structures and ultimately able to house up to 10 to 12 students per structure.
This has created a nightmare for people who live in this neighborhood, some for generations as the tenants are almost 100% composed of students who have no regard or respect for their neighbors. They also don't allow for enough parking for residents or merchants and their customers.
Before deciding to rebuild our new house, we thought about buying an already built home and remain close enough to where we lived. We had a delightful real estate agent who showed us a number of beautiful properties. There was one that we really loved, in perfect condition and well within our budget. But when we did our homework and spoke with friends of ours "in the know"we learned that at least two other dwellings on the same block were occupied by students and how disruptive, disrespectful and had no regard for their neighbors. All night parties with loud music etc. was a every night occurrence. As a result, many families have chosen to sell their homes in order to live with their families in a more peaceful and civilized neighborhood.
It has been a real "hot potato" with umpteen meetings held without much of a positive outcome.
It comes down to greed and the developers have the money to grease the palms of politicians along with the universities and the power they wield with the powers that be.
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Post by Kimby on Aug 1, 2022 2:26:22 GMT
Today’s Pet Peeve: Sound systems on boats.
The boat motors are so noisy that the passengers can’t hear the music unless it’s turned up so loud that everyone within 1/2 mile has to listen to music NOT of their own choosing.
How about just listening to the water splashing and the gulls crying - and the shrieks of the kids being towed behind the boat - and save the music for the privacy of ones own home!
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 1, 2022 3:43:25 GMT
How about just listening to the water splashing and the gulls crying - and the shrieks of the kids being towed behind the boat ... Isn't that kind of punishment outlawed?
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Post by Kimby on Aug 1, 2022 13:06:37 GMT
Did I forget to mention they are riding on inflatable “tow toys”? 😉
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Post by mich64 on Aug 1, 2022 14:04:14 GMT
We have a neighborhood that is in the same situation Casi and it has been a concern for families there. The city council finally established a by-law to limit how many students per house and it has greatly improved the situation. It is still not where I would advise anyone looking to purchase a home though.
We will most likely be listening to loud music from boats this afternoon as well Kimby, it is a civic holiday today so there will be a lot of boats out today. We can only hope we like their choice of music!
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 8, 2022 3:57:34 GMT
... I adore my Le Creuset casserole dish. I inherited it from my Mum in 2002 approx .... I would love a smaller version but they are just so expensive. Back on the previous page there was some discussion after Lugg's post about Le Creuset & similar enameled cast iron cookware. This popped up in my email tonight because Cuisinart is having a sale. Here is the Cuisinart selection of enameled cast iron cookware: www.cuisinart.com/search_?&s=Enamel%20Cast%20Iron&sort=sort_Price%20asc&view=gridThe email is aimed at the US audience, but scroll towards the bottom & on the left hand side click on International to see what they have to offer those outside the US.
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Post by lugg on Aug 8, 2022 21:06:59 GMT
ooh will have a look thank you Bixa.
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