By Karen Rice
Official Kids Mag
Some kids have a dog. Others have a cat. Some
have both. But Aspen and Leah B. of Lowell,
Arkansas, have so many pets they can't even count
them all.
"Maybe about 1,000?" guesses 10-year-old
Aspen.
"More like 100," says
9-year-old Leah.
There is a giant
Percheron draft horse,
a tiny horse named
Rascal, and a normal-
sized horse who
dances. There's a
water buffalo named
Donald, a big hog
named Harley, a
camel named Kevin,
ponies to ride. a pot-
bellied pig, donkeys,
cows, calves,
chickens, lots and
lots of goats!
You see, their
grandma Connie has
a petting zoo. Usually,
she travels to fairs
around the country
with the animals, so kids can meet and learn
about animals.
This year, because of covid-19, fairs were
cancelled. So Connie set up the tents at home
so kids could come visit the animals there.
Aspen and Leah are happy about that.
Some of the animals were born and raised on
the farm and others have come from circus, fairs
and rodeos all over the United States.
Blackie the horse was rescued from a circus in
South Carolina because he was unhealthy. Now he's
gained weight and he sometimes does his little circus
dance in the middle of his pen.
Leah and Aspen can ride the ponies whenever they
want and get lots of rides on Kevin the camel in the
front yard. They get to cuddle the baby goats and
feed them with bottles.
Taking care of that many pets is a lot of work!
Aspen and Leah are good
workers, according to their
grandma. "They do everything
that needs doing," she says.
"They help with the milking,
feed baby animals with bottles,
wash the milker and do all the
work that needs to be done.
They're little troopers."
Then there are the chicken
chores, which include
collecting the eggs. "Why buy
eggs when you can get them
from the chickens?" Leah
a zoo-full
of pets
10 • SepteMBer 2020 • OfficialKidsMag.com
