Animals, animals, animals

We've had a veritable zoo in the Pomplun household, mostly because of April. Some of the pets we have owned include:

-Anna Belle (a cat Tammy had from a kitten in 1982 to the cat's death of old age in the late 90s);
-Sylvester (a wild cat we tried unsuccessfully to tame while living in the Fellows Trailer Court on Highway 14, Evansville) -- get it? Anna and Sylvester (Harry Dennison's middle name);
-A black cocker spaniel given to them by the Boettchers, but with three little kids (and Louie :) Tammy couldn't care for them all, and gave him back to the Boettchers;
-Buddy, a collie that bit a kid playing at our house so we gave him to a friend who gave him a good home, until he spooked when walking with his owner in a rainstorm and ran in front of a car;
-April (aka Fatcat) and May Basket - two cats Louie brought home - April disappeared, we still have May;
-Spice and Sport, brother and sister border collie dogs we got as puppies in 1998 and still have. Spice suffered a back injury this spring and became paralyzed in her back legs. She has been on steroids and antiinflamatories, painkillers since then and is regaining some use (she doesn't seem to be in any pain);
-Rabbits, a white one (can't remember his name) and Jasmine had a brown lap-eared one she called Aladdin (get it, Jasmine and Aladdin?)
-Three parakeets, a loving green/blue pair - the male died and we got a new one that was VERY noisy and messy, so we gave them to a friend;
-A salamander;
-Spike, a hedgehog that was given to us;
-Chilly, a chinchilla we found in the neighbor's driveway, seriously, another single neighbor had a fire in his home and died in the fire, we found out he had chinchillas;
-Three Russian Dwarf Hamsters - one the ferret got (see next entry), one died of wet-tail (diarrhea TMI), the other, named Dasher, aka Booger, lived a long life only after the cat got it and we spent $200 to have it's injured leg amputated (yep, really);
-Two ferrets, both given to us separately, Tabby and Josie. Josie died of old age. Tabby April still has;
-Two horses, Sugar, who threw April and caused innumerable medical costs (to the insurance company), and Melody, both of whom she still has, but may sell Melody, now that she's getting ready for college;
-A rat that Rose is having us "temporarily babysit" (yah, right);
-A cluster (prob. not the right word) of hermit crabs;
-A frenzy of sea monkeys -- yes those old novelty pets from the 70s are still around and going strong (although all of ours died);
-A goldfish that Louka won at the Rock County 4-H fair.

Anyone have any pets we haven't had? How about a monkey? No? Raccoon? Squirrel?

Tammy grew up around animals and has had many since. In college, Tammy found a baby squirrel she hand raised and let go and a baby owl that she gave to an animal rescue center. She had two beautiful Irish Setters she couldn't possibly care for but was so sad to give away, Ashley and Autumn. About this same time, she found Anna Belle (see above reference), a kitten that she found in the parking lot of the All N One, a gas station in Evansville.

She recalls that when she was a kid, her dad, as a police officer, was often sent to "get rid" of the pests, but he didn't have the heart for it, and would bring them home and later release them, including raccoons. Say what you will about Chuck, he had a very soft heart for animals. As much as he liked guns, he wasn't really a hunter, although he did do some pheasant hunting, if I recall correctly. He often told about raising a skunk as a kid. One of Tammy's best memories (as an adult, with her father and Louie and Char) was when they went boating and Chuck was so excited about a family of ducks.
The Babler family also hand raised some sparrows, Corky and Crackers when Tammy and Lisa were young. Uncle Gary Babler had pet raccoons, Gunky and Wally, that he would bring along when he visited the family.
The Babler family also had a dog when Tammy was a baby, Tupper, a German shepherd; two dogs, Tammy, a border collie named before the dog was given to us, and Tiger, a pomeranian and I think a cat. Later, Lisa got two cats, Rufus and Renee, who Linda kept and loved after Tammy and Lisa moved out. Not really a cat person, Linda sure love those cats and was so sad when they died. Linda now has a cat, who we call Great-Grandma Anna Dennison incarnate. She treats that cat, "The" Prince, with the emphasis on "The," better than us (well almost, no really!) but like he is Grandma and she must take care of him. We even joke that we (Lisa and I) have been excluded from the will and all of it is going to "The" Prince!

Here's a quote for Linda: "Dogs have masters, cats have staff." Linda actually has a door-hanger on her front door, given to her by the Webers, that says, "The cat and his servant live here."

As I recall some saying, Linda had a pet cow growing up, but he ended up on the dinner table. Please tell us more about this "pet" and any other pets the Dennison's may have had (or even imagined they had) as kids.