Our Wishes for the Milennium

As the hype for the new milennium dies down and we find it now six days old, my kids and I go over our annual "wish list" for animals for the new year. This has become a yearly tradition with us ever since I worked at the Animal Shelter. It has, of course, been five years since my employment there, but my kids, especially my 10-year-old daughter, Jillian, has looked forward to it at the start of every new year. She usually brings the list into her classroom with her and they have a discussion about it. Fortunately, the parochial school she attends is open and honest enough to do so. My son, Devon, who is five, the same age Jillian was when we started this and now attending kindergarten, has begun to express an interest in adding to the "list" so that he, too, can bring it into his class. Weeeellll...it maybe a bit too early for that - we tested the waters when Jillian was in second grade, and that appeared to be the "appropriate" time for such discussions. Anyway, without further ado, here goes:

*Me: I wish the mandatory spay/neuter law for animals adopted from animal shelters and pounds in Rhode Island is so effective that legislation also enacts one for animals bought from pet stores and breeders. Better yet, I wish legislation would ban pet stores from "selling" live animals and make them concentrate, instead, on selling only supplies. There's just something not right about thinking of live animals as "inventory."

*Jillian: I wish more school teachers would plan lessons in humane education the same way they always plan lessons in math, reading, and, ugh..., english. Kids need to be taught to respect and care for all life. Who better to teach us than a teacher?

*Me: I wish to say thank you to those teachers who are already incorporating these lessons into their lesson plans. I hope my kids have teachers like you as they continue toward adulthood.

*Devon: I wish we had a pet for our classroom...maybe a gerbil, hamster, or even a rabbit. We would all take care of it.

*Me: I wish to thank all the individuals who adopted a pet from a shelter or pound this past year instead of a pet store or breeder. Whether you know it or not, your adoption is indirectly responsible for saving many lives. Besides your own new pet's, all those who were able to take up residence in that same cage after.

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