Too Many Pets

I am under the impression that my family has too many pets. The current count is big dog, little dog, four chickens, two doves and two fish. Now I don't feed all of them. That duty is spread out amongst the family. If you ask any of my children or husband if we have too many pets, they would say, "No, can we get a cat?"

Now, when I was growing up, we always had a dog. One dog at a time. Maybe I'm trying to make up for lost pet requests as a child. I think my reasoning behind accepting all these pets is because we have a big yard. But I'm putting my foot down. No more pets!

Some of the best pets we had were strays. It's almost like the stray pet picks you instead of you picking them. I remember my sisters and I found a lab mix puppy on the side of the road when we were teenagers. We brought her home, pulled all the ticks off her and named her Magnolia. Maggie for short. Now we begged and pleaded Mom to keep the dog. But she stood her ground. "No, we already have a dog", she said. So we proceeded to find a home for Maggie. She ended up going to a friend of ours. Just a few years ago, I was told by this friend that his father said Maggie was the best dog he ever had.

Yesterday I put the doves on Craigslist. Two Tangerine Doves with cage, $50. What a bargain! Anyone? Anyone? Believe me, if you hold out long enough, you will probably get them for free.