Howdy!
In response to Jessie Brown's post @ kids and animals:
 
Hear! Hear!  We, also, were raised to respect animals from an early age.
 Both of my parents are/were animal lovers, so I came by it honestly, and
therefore our house always had a cat and our yard always had a dog.  We were
taught how to pick up an animal, how to greet a strange dog, and even how to
sit quietly and play with a gerbil.  In fact, I was often surprised that other
 children did not know how to do same.  I remeber once, driving with my mom,
and we passed a kid hitting a dog with a rolled up newspaper.  Mom stopped
the car,  got out, and proceeded to show the kid how hitting his/her own hand
with the paper near the dog's nose was as effective, without hurting the dog.
 It was that important to her that animals be treated well.  This belief has
been instilled in me to the extent that I can be a terror in pet shops (yes,
I patronize them frequently, especially when I need an 'animal fix' on a bad
day) that do not properly care for their stock.
 
We *DO* need to be cautious with our fuzzies when they are around kids,
espeically unfamiliar ones.  The repeated injustices connected with bite
cases prove this.  But with our own, or those kids that we can closely
supervise and teach (and Jessie's statement about modeling proper behavior
was PRIME), everytinhg should be ok.
 
>soapbox mode off<
 
Take care,
Kelly & Michael, the Feline Furries and Ferret Fuzzies
 
ps There is the occasional 'bad seed' that can be found in animals and
children, I'll warrant.  But these are the exception.  KKBB
[Posted in FML issue 1131]