You're rIght Cassie, there are so many people out there who think that having so many animals is just your way of filling "the void" in your life where there should be children. I look at it as this: there are so many starving, needy and helpless creatures stuck in second-rate shelter facilities that it would be selfish of me to just want to have kids for the sake of it when I can rescue animals from being put to sleep or killed by some jackass with no regard for life at all. I've always had cats and dogs and have even rescued birds and rabbits from beig eaten in the wild. I'll admit, there are times I think of them in a motherly way, but that doesn't in any way suggest that I'm trying to substitute animals for kids. I could never compare my 7 year old Shetland Sheepdog/mix to a child because she is unwaveringly faithful, always eager to please and loves me from the bottom of her little doggie heart. How could I compare that kind of pure love to the selfishness often displayed by children? How could anyone else ever label it as pathological? I also have a kitten who's about to turn 8 months old. He's very sweet, very loving and never asks for much beyond having some food in his bowl, a clean litter box and love and attention from David and I. I think the love between a pet lover and their animals is very pure indeed.
