AP Headline: Pet owners prefer McCain over Obama

Where do they get the ideas for these polls?? And who do they actually poll? A lot of my friends, most of whom are not Democrats, prefer Obama. They also have pets.

I do admit people who love animals have an edge with me. Loving them is not necessarily synonymous with owning them. In this neck of the woods owning an animal is often no more meaningful then having a pile of junkers in the yard. Just another possession. When it becomes too expensive or inconvenient - get rid of it. That's one reason our animal shelters are always over burdened.

The article tells us McCain has at least two dogs, turtles, a cat, a ferret, three parakeets and saltwater fish.

Where does he keep them?  Phoenix, Sedona or D.C.? Who cares for them? Cindy has her charities and her beer distributorship, he has his day job as well as his campaign. Of course, there, Cindy is always at his side. Undoubtedly it's left to the "help".

The Obama family has no pets. Michelle has a full time job. Barack has a full time job in another city. I call not having pets at this point in their lives responsible.

We have a dog. And a whole lot of fish. Pond fish, an aquarium in the den and another in the office. Fish require a lot of care. Keeping an eye out for all the mysterious maladies they are prone to and trying to figure out how to treat them. Regular water and filter changes. They are part of the family. When we lose one we grieve. They have personalities like any other living creature. You, of course, know that if you care for them, not just own them.

Of course there's Bacchus. He's our fourth Saint and sixth dog over all. We got our first Saint the summer before we were married. That precluded my working. We didn't feel it was right to have a dog then leave him to his own devices for hours on end. That has been the rule ever since. One of us had to be home. And one of us always was.

So don't tell me that because McCain has a passel of animals he's more compassionate and caring than Obama. It merely means he has more possessions.