Are the Paw Patrol a front for a money laundering operation?

Look, I am a fan of Ryder and the gang, but there are things that don’t add up. I have questions about the way the Patrol is structured, and financed, and probably even bigger questions about Adventure Bay, its local government services, and potential corrupt arrangements with the neighboring municipality of Foggy Bottom.

Questions need to be asked. Hard questions.

Where does the Paw Patrol get its financing from?

The Paw Patrol has a lot of money behind it. The lookout, all those vehicles, and associated tech are not cheap. Ryder seems to have an endless supply of money, but there has never been a clear explanation of where his money comes from.

Is he a rich orphan? I only surmise the orphan part because this guy is never around his parents and surely a responsible guardian would be limiting his constant running off to locations of danger including snowy mountains, remote jungles, and the arctic. Maybe, but wouldn’t he also have other things to worry about like avenging his parents’ death?

More likely, is that Ryder has a benefactor. Somebody who is prepared to pour countless dollars into this exercise to call up a favor later. But who? A government? Surely, they wouldn’t risk this type of tech falling into the wrong hands. More likely it would be some sort of a private organization that has less concern for the damage that a young child and a bunch of puppies can do, in fact hoping that they can use it as a distraction for other nefarious activities.

Why can the pups talk?

Look it’s on par with “how come the pups can drive?” and “why can’t any other animal talk or drive?” This seems to be an anomaly that the rest of Adventure Bay and the world doesn’t seem to identify a problem there.

The pooches have well-developed skills of speech and apparent dexterity, but they seem to be the only animals that have this trait. No other animals can talk except for Mr. Nibbles a.k.a Copycat and that only happens after he is exposed to the radioactive meteor. None of the felines, including Mayor Humdinger’s evil kitties, have the power of speech. What has happened that canines are basically as evolved as humans in this universe?

Maybe there is a mass poisoning going on in Adventure Bay where people are hallucinating about these animals. Given the lack of basic government services, this doesn’t seem too far-fetched.

Why doesn’t Adventure Bay have its own services?

I have lived and worked in small towns. Often people that work for the local council have two or three jobs. But in Adventure Bay, there seem to be very few people on the local government payroll except for the mayor.

Mayor Goodway is the elected official, with apparently no support staff. There isn’t any local law enforcement, fire, sanitation, harbor patrol or any other employees that you would expect in a town of that size. Instead, whenever something happens, the only response is “Call the Paw Patrol”. Now if they are contracted by the municipality to deliver these services that’s fine, but what are the contractual relationships around remuneration and service delivery standards?

It seems that the Paw Patrol is not exclusively engaged by Adventure Bay, because they regularly attend to matters in other locations as mentioned previously. What if a fire breaks out while the team is off in the mountains or the jungle? Are they Adventure Bay’s one and only line of defense? Do they have a well-thought-out disaster management plan? It would seem not.

So, if Adventure Bay is not spending money on these things, where is the money going?

Is Mayor Goodway engaged in large-scale embezzlement?

We just touched on what Adventure Bay is not spending money on, so let’s examine what they do spend money on.

Mayor Goodway built a giant statue in honor of her pet chicken, Chickaletta. Recent estimates place the cost of this statue at between $70 Million US if gold plated up to more than $600 million US if in solid gold. Where does a town like Adventure Bay get the money for that? I guess it helps if you aren’t paying anyone to do the basic jobs.

The good mayor also has plenty of cash to splash on events where she can continue her competition with the mayor of Foggy Bottom, Mayor Humdinger. Once more, these events usually involve balloons, pizzas, world-renowned artists performing concerts, and motor racing. The logistics and cost of running one of these events are mammoth, multiple in a year would cripple many other local governments.

It works out handy if you can just rely on your army of unpaid volunteers like the Paw Patrol.

Is Mayor Humdinger bribing the Paw Patrol?

The list of offenses committed by the mayor of Adventure Bay’s neighbor is long and disturbing. A cursory look at his behavior would identify stealing, life endangerment, illicit trade in cultural artifacts, and fraud. Do you know how many times he has faced criminal charges for these acts? None. He has undertaken community service which has involved picking up litter or other minor acts, but never subject to a period of imprisonment or pecuniary penalty.

You have a police dog, yet he is ineffective in discharging his sworn duties. This is what happens when you have a poorly functioning system of government.

Why is there never any effort to ensure that Mayor Humdinger amends his behavior? Perhaps the answer is that there would be no financial benefit to the Paw Patrol or Adventure Bay if he was incarcerated. Perhaps it is fair to say that Adventure Bay is in a small part reliant on Mayor Humdinger, and the quid pro quo is that they turn a blind eye to his actions.

The Paw Patrol is on Nickelodeon please feel free to watch and make up your own mind on their behavior.