In May, we had a large celebration in the Riedi household to celebrate our little goofball, Calliope.

To quote the American Humane Association, “We can’t predict the life expectancy of an infected cat, but unfortunately, most will succumb to a feline leukemia-related disease within two or three years after becoming infected.”  Other studies I had read in preparation for adopting Calliope told me the vast majority of cats born with FeLV do not make it past two years old.  So image my surprise and excitement when bunny-cat, Calliope, reached her second birthday!

So a celebration was in order.

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We are now two months past her birthday, and each day is just another celebration of having this little furball alive and well in my life.  I know that any day could be the day when things turn, so we focus on enjoying these amazing days that we do have.  Here’s to many more days, weeks, months, and maybe even years with Calliope!

It’s one of the tragic downsides to making movies that feature a specific type of animal.  After 101 Dalmatians, the demand for dalmatian puppies when through the roof.  And never mind that they are not necessarily the best family pet due to their energy levels, kids wanted them and parents got them.  So naturally, shelters saw a huge increase in dalmatians in their kennels as families realized their new pet was not a great fit.  After Finding Nemo, fish stores saw a demand that was difficult to meet for the clownfish, as every kid wanted their own Nemo and all those parents were happy to oblige.  This not only led to hundreds of thousands of dead clownfish, but also some severe damage to the reefs around the world.

So this time around, help stop the mass demand for “Dory’s” as this will only result in massive damage to the reefs, and threaten the Blue Tang population.  Let us all enjoy the film, but teach our youth that taking home a living representation of the movie is not necessary or acceptable.

This 4th of July weekend, make sure to keep your pets safe during the festivities.  Have a happy, healthy, and safe holiday weekend!

It is affectionately called “Foster Fail” when a foster home winds up adopting the animal in their temporary care.  It’s a fun celebration to have among the animal welfare crew when we hear a friend, volunteer, and/or coworker becomes a “Foster Fail”.  And it’s not hard to realize why it is such a common thing to keep your foster.  They are in your home and life for a period of time, and you quickly fall in love.

It is never easy letting go of a foster.  The process is actually quite emotional.  You are happy they have found their forever home, but you are sad they are leaving you.  If you ever want to see me ugly cry, be there right after I hand off my foster to their new family.  It’s a very conflicting moment, but a happy one in the end.

Despite the emotions of letting a foster go, I strive to never adopt my fosters.  It isn’t always easy, and I’m sure one day I, too, will fail and will end up keeping one (and you can come back to this and tell me “told you so!”).  But I truly do not want to keep my fosters.  Why?  Because I know once I adopt one, I won’t have room to foster as much or anymore at all.  And that would be far more tragic to me than seeing my foster leave my home on their way to their forever  home.

Being a foster is tough, but not helping is tougher in my opinion.  When people ask how I do it, I typically respond with “how could I not”?  Fostering a shelter pet is one small way I know I can help.  That pup or cat is one less body in the shelter taking up room, one less chance for the shelter to decide they are “too full” to help another animal in need.  And that, to me, is more rewarding than adopting.

So please consider fostering for your local shelter.  This time of year, shelters are overflowing with amazing animals waiting for their forever home.  Offering to help with that overflow is an amazing way to give back and save lives.  And I promise no one will judge if you end up adopting your foster.  😉

Yes, it’s true (gasp!)… and of course, that means everybody needs a place to do that (and other things…). Which brings me to the topic at hand: Public Restrooms.

On their own, they are not the best of places being that lots of people are using it for less than pleasant reasons. But they are necessary thanks to blog title’s statement of fact. Lately, it’s become an even more unpleasant place thanks to fear and close-mindedness against those who are different than the hetero, Anglo-Saxon, white male.

There are several things I find interesting about the uproar for transgender folk using the restroom they identify with. First, the USA is OBSESSED with labels. In all my travels, I repeatedly noticed that most public restrooms didn’t have a gender label on them. They are for anyone who needs it. Heck, it was a funny moment when I was using the bathroom in Dar es Salaam and I realized the stall next to me was my boyfriend at the time. We laughed pretty hard at the sink.

And even here in the United States, I’ve used the men’s room several times throughout the years and am glad for it. Why? Well, have you SEEN the lines at the women’s door at concerts and festivals?! There have been a couple of instances where I really had to go, and I wasn’t going to last standing in that line. Each time this happened, I went to the men’s door, cracked it open and yelled in “is it okay for a lady to come in?”. Every single time, the men inside yelled back “Yeah, no problem!”. And every single time, I went in, peed, washed my hands, and left. It wasn’t weird, or bad, or strange, or scary. And let’s be real for a moment – I could have been trans and wanting to use the men’s room because that’s how I identified. But you know what is awesome? Not once did someone care enough to yell at me or judge. Everyone just saw another human being who needed to pee and let them. How very human…

Another interesting dichotomy that I’m noticing is that men folk are worried about bad things happening to their daughters in the restroom now that any gender is welcome. But with these non-sex bathrooms, Dads could go in the restroom with their daughters (or take them into the men’s room… or the family restroom…). But also, the bigger issue to me, is they aren’t saying anything about their sons. And obviously weren’t too worried about their sons before when these “horrible men” were using the same restroom already. And, how often have we heard about bathroom attacks anyways? It’s pretty rare to begin with because, SHOCKINGLY, the vast majority of sexual assaults happen by someone you know really well (like a family member, partner, etc) NOT some random stranger.

And let’s be real here. These people complaining about the bathroom situation don’t actually care about rape, or protect from it. Do you know how many rape kits are sitting untested in this country? Hundreds of thousands.  Do you know how little women know their rights, know where they can get help?  It’s not pretty.  So if you are upset by the unisex bathrooms due to rape possibility, start with harsher laws for rapists and demand rape kits be tested in a timely manner.  And maybe, just maybe stop blaming the current and past victims.  They were never asking for it, trust me.  That’s a MUCH better place to start.

In the end, it’s just a fear of people that are different. Which is so, so sad. Who cares which bathroom people use?  Everybody poops.  Let’s have the decency to let them do so in peace.

Wisconsin.

I had so much hope once that my home state would be the first no-kill state in our nation.  But it seems the largest nonprofit shelter and largest municipal shelter of Wisconsin are going to fight that tooth and nail until the bitter end.  Both the Wisconsin Humane Society (WHS) and Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission (MADACC) are currently trying to change the state’s stray hold period from 7 days to 4 days (through AB487).  This will adversely affect the thousands of animals that rely on shelter intelligence and compassion to ensure they are safe and find their loving homes again.

WHS and MADACC try to make the argument that strays just aren’t claimed (3% of cats and 27% of dogs were claimed by an owner at MADACC in 2014) and that it is more beneficial to just adopt them out or, as can very well be the case, kill them to make more room.  Reporting that only 3% of stray cats and only a quarter of stray dogs are reclaimed by owners doesn’t speak to stray holds needing to be shortened.  It most definitely speaks to the Shelter’s severely lack practices and procedures in helping owners find their lost pets.

These Wisconsin shelters should be focusing on how to reach owners and connect them to their lost pets, not trying to shorten how long an animal is safe while an owner tries to find them.  Trying to claim that no-kill communities are successful because of shortened stray holds is completely false.  The no-kill equation does not include in any way shorter hold periods.  It does, however, include focusing efforts on pet retention and proactive pet redemptions.  It is MUCH easier to reunite pets with their families than it is to find that pet a new home.  And why waste resources on finding new homes, when these pets obviously already have one?

Wisconsin Humane Society and Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission:  don’t try to shorten your stray holds.  That won’t have ANY positive effect on saving lives.  Instead, focus on how you can better help reunite your lost pets with their owners.  THAT will help keep your shelters from overflowing.  And THAT will be true to the no-kill movement.

While I normally focus on nonprofit issues – typically animal welfare – on here, this is something that I am just too passionate about to not bring to light.  This election season has been the most contentious, and it is unwise to ignore the serious damage that can happen if certain candidates are elected into office.

When I moved to Colorado, one of the first things I made sure to do was register to vote.  On the registration form, it asked my party affiliation.  I was about to check “Independent” since I don’t like being pigeon-holed by a party, but was told at the desk that if I didn’t pick “Democrat” or “Republican”, I wouldn’t be able to vote in the primary elections.  So I figured I usually skew towards the left (shocking, I know!), and don’t want to be excluded from  voting, so I checked the “Democrat” box.

I have never missed an election since I turned 18, even the local elections.  It is very important to me to exercise my right and duty as a citizen of this nation to vote.  So when January rolled around, I hadn’t heard in any news channels or mail a date for when Colorado has their primaries for the presidential election.  I googled for when the primaries are and the internet tells me “June 28”.  Seems like a pretty late primary, but okay!

Then, the third week of February, I received a postcard in the mail from a woman running for the local sheriff position and it says “Don’t forget to vote March 1!”.  Honestly, without this random postcard, I would not have known about the Colorado Democratic Caucus happening on March 1st UNTIL March 1st.  The first of many problems with this setup…

The Night of the Caucus

I’m sure you already heard from our news stations the mess that the caucuses were.  Thousands showed up to places that could only hold hundreds.  Volunteers didn’t know what to do.

It started off horrible, with the nearest parking spot available when I arrived being over half a mile away on a completely dark dirt road.  Walking to and from my car was the most unsafe I have felt since I moved to Colorado.  As a woman walking alone down a dark street in a neighborhood that isn’t the greatest, it was terrifying.  Also, anyone with mobility issues would have been screwed.

For my polling place, check in was literally signing next to your name in a binder  (I was never asked to show an id/prove I was who I said).   I stood in line outside (40 degree weather… doable for me, not so doable for those there with infants, or for the elderly) for 2 hours before we were told the building was full and that we would be voting outside.  I cannot hear out of one ear, so I missed a lot of instruction and explanation from our volunteer since she was just yelling outside to our over 100 group precinct.  I still don’t know how caucuses are supposed to work.  I also don’t even know if my vote was counted.  They did a roll-call at one point, and luckily I thought to ask the woman next to me to tell me if she heard my name.  Thank goodness I did, because I did not hear it and I would have missed my chance to vote at all.

I understand that the purpose of the caucus is to give you and your neighbors an opportunity to debate candidates to try to sway the undecided, to bring up concerns and issues for the party to take note, and to vote.  But the first two things did not happen.  It was too chaotic and there were too many people.  We were barely able to actually vote, casting our nominations about 9 minutes before the polls closed.

The Problem 

There is a ridiculous amount of issues with the caucus setup.  I’m sure it made perfectly good sense in the 1800s when communities were several hundred, maybe even several thousand, and those that qualified to vote (only adult men) could easily fit in the local school house for discussion, debate, and voting.  However, our population is too large for this now.  It should be obvious we have outgrown this system, and our technology gives us much better options.

• horrible communication to voters about when and where the elections are
• forces individuals to give up three hours during a specific time to place one vote – those with night school, evening jobs, children, transportation issues, ADA issues, etc cannot vote.  This is unacceptable.  EVERYONE should have easy access to voting.
• voters are forced to publicly show who they are voting for… in front of family and neighbors
• voters were not id’ed

At my polling place, during the chaos, so many people left before they could vote.  Every co-worker that works at the Clubs (Boys & Girls Clubs) could not vote (Clubs close at 7pm).  There are reports that people were turned away and WERE NOT ALLOWED TO VOTE.  Anyone in a wheelchair, blind, hard of hearing, etc could not vote (we were outside on a hilly field, with volunteers just yelling for communication).  People who didn’t claim “Democrat” on a form were not allowed to vote.  The caucus is literally setup to only work for the privileged.  They honestly should be illegal.

Colorado and the other 12 states holding caucuses deserve better.  These 13 states MUST switch over to a standard primary voting system.  Where one can choose the hour or two needed to vote during an entire twelve hour or more period of time, for when it works for them.  They need to be at locations that are ADA accessible and have amount of time it takes to vote falls under the amount of time your employer legally has to give you to vote.

We need to demand change.  If you are in one of the states that does a caucus instead of a primary, it is time to act.  There are groups forming to campaign for this change.  Look them up, join them, help them.  Reach out to your representatives and demand change.  The number of people not able to vote for their next president is disgusting and should never happen again.

I am incredibly honored to announce that I am the newest member to be voted onto the board of Animal House!  This is a goal and dream I have had since I moved to Fort Collins almost two years ago, and I am so excited to be in this position to help the animal shelter and the dogs of Larimer County.

About Animal House

The mission of Animal House is to decrease the euthanasia rate of adoptable animals by:

· Collaborating with overpopulated and underserved shelters.
· Providing the community with education, information and outreach.
· Providing adoption opportunities for homeless animals and giving them what they need most — time to find their forever homes.

They are a wonderful animal rescue that is working hard to guarantee every dog gets their second chance of a loving home.

Learn more about Animal House and how you can support them at their website here.

She is the most loving, outgoing, ridiculous cat I have ever known.  While I know each day is a blessing because any day her FeLV could take hold, but we don’t let that stop us from having tons of fun and lots of cuddles.  Here is a little video I put together in Calliope’s honor to celebrate the 15 months she has spent with me so far.  Love ya, little bunny cat!