John McCarten is from Beloit, Wisconsin, though he also lived in Madison for 12 years. He has lived in South Minneapolis since 1994. His first pets were dogs and cats, and he also had pet turtles, gerbils, goldfish, and a baby raccoon at one time. Outside of work, John enjoys several activities: he has several plots in a Community garden, collects music from the 1960s and the late 1970s, and volunteers at the Minneapolis Animal Shelter. If he had a million dollars, he would buy a house in the country where he could have dogs, cats, chickens, and lots of vegetable gardens and apple trees [citation].