Girl Uses Birthday Party To Help Shelter's Animals

BY LAURA J. MONDUL
SPECIAL TO THE HERALD COURIER

Most 10-year-old children seek toys and games for their birthdays, but Hailey Harless of Abingdon, Va., wanted something different this year – a better life for animals.
So for her 10th birthday, Hailey gave her parents a special request – that her party invitations include a note telling her friends and family to bring, instead of gifts, items that can be donated to the Washington County, Va., Animal Shelter.
With a party attendance of about 30 people, the shelter animals received quite a gift, including dog and cat food, kitty litter and even bleach to wash down the kennels.
Hailey’s parents said the idea for the donations was strictly their daughter’s. A lifetime animal lover, Hailey was emphatic about the plan. So, before the party, mom and dad contacted the shelter to see what items would be most useful, and listed those in the party invitation.
“I just thought the animals needed more stuff than I did,” Hailey said.
An only child, Hailey comes by her love of animals honestly: Both of her parents, Laura Isaacs and Keith Harless, are animal lovers. The family has had pets since Hailey was a baby. Her father recalls that their first dog, a Boxer named “Bubba,” would always sleep next to Hailey’s crib and kept a constant watch on her.
“She’s just always loved animals,” Keith Harless said. “I remember getting her a little baby doll stroller when she was younger, and she would actually take the baby dolls out and put stuffed animals in. Now she puts one of our dogs in the stroller and pushes him around.”
The family now keeps a menagerie of animals: two dogs, Katy and Shadow; two cats, Max and Hallie; a school of guppies; a hermit crab; and until recently, several snails and sea monkeys.
“And whatever else she can catch in her bug catcher,” Isaacs, her mother, said. “She’ll catch anything she can find outside, like bugs, lizards. She’s hatched butterflies and had an ant farm.”
Hailey also has taken horseback riding lessons for two years at Academy East in Meadowview, Va., and would like to have a horse of her own. She now is pushing for her parents to get her a ferret.
“Any animal she sees, she wants,” Keith Harless said, adding that every trip to Pet Partners or the animal shelter, even the local fair, results in his daughter finding a new animal she can’t live without.
“At the Washington County Fair, she had the mice crawling up and down her arms,” Isaacs said, laughing. “She was dying to have one of them. Then she saw the piglets and now she’s dying to have one of them.”
But animals are not Hailey’s only forte. She is a straight “A” student at Meadowview Elementary School, where she is in the fourth grade. Her favorite subject is social studies, and she enjoys art. She reads a lot – mostly books about animals. When she’s not in school, she engages in typical childhood activities – playing on her tree swing and video games, mostly games like “Doggie Day Care” and “Just Horses.” And, of course, Hailey helps with the animal care duties of the household, including feeding and watering their many pets. Not surprisingly, she also helps out with neighborhood pets by babysitting animals when their owners are away.
As for her future, Hailey hopes to grow up to work with animals.
“I wanted to be a vet, but I couldn’t deal with having to hurt animals sometimes, even though it’s helping them,” she said. “I really like wolves, and would like to work with wolves at a wildlife center.”
“We’re very proud of her,” Isaacs said. “She’s such a good kid. We were so impressed that she was so selfless about her birthday party and wanted to help the animals. We’re just really proud of the girl she’s growing up to be. She’s a great kid.”