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In my family, kids ranked just above pets in the pecking order. I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that my father grew up on the family farm in Iowa. Animals weren't just a luxury, they were a way of life. And I mean more than just livestock, but dogs as well. My grandfather and grandmother raised championship beagles for field trials. They traveled the Midwest going to trials and collecting trophies.

Every spring, my brother and I would go to the farm, sit in the large kennel and accept the wet, playful affection that only twenty or so beagle puppies can give. Then, along with our grandfather, we helped train, feed and care for the dogs, learning the whole time about the responsibility one accepts when a human raises an animal. They become more than just pets, they become family.

This is why I do what I do, because I know that pets are more than just animals kept for amusement. They truly are members of the family. And just like children, they are the substance of which the stories and memories that they stay with us for the rest of our lives are made of.