HURRICANE, W.Va. -- When Lesley Tabor asked her daughter, Paisley, what she wanted for her 6th birthday, she got a surprising response that made her proud.
"She could have asked for anything in the world, but she said she had too many toys and wanted to make donations to the animal shelter," Lesley Tabor said. "We were humbled by the fact she would do that."
So, included in her birthday party invitations this year was a request for supplies needed at the shelter. Her friends came through. Paisley Tabor presented the Putnam County Animal Relief Center in Winfield with, among other things, bags of food and toys. She also gave them a check for $120.
"I like animals," Paisley Tabor said. "I want them to be happy and healthy."
Lesley Tabor said her daughter has always been an animal lover and currently has 10 pets: a crab, four cats, two frogs, a dog and two goats.
"I want a puppy, too," Paisley Tabor said. "Even though I know they grow up."
Her passion for animals has inspired her to decide -- at such an early age -- what she wants to become when she's older.
"An animal rescuer and a vet," she said.She recently got some practice caring for animals after her cat, "Playboy," broke his leg on her birthday.
"We've spent lots of hours in the vet's office over the past couple of weeks," Lesley Tabor said. "They've been very gracious after they learned what Paisley did for the animal shelter and gave her first-hand experience and access to whatever they were doing for the cat."
Paisley Tabor is already looking forward to the day when she turns 16. Not because that's when she can get her driver's license, but because that's the age requirement to volunteer at the animal shelter.
The aspiring veterinarian doesn't have unrealistic expectations of what she'll be doing, either.
"Cleaning, changing newspaper, walking the animals and feeding them" will be among her duties, she said.
Lesley Tabor said her daughter already is planning her next charitable event.
"She told me recently, after we saw something in a magazine, that she wants to take stuff to give kids in Africa," Lesley Tabor said. "The only problem was, she wanted to drive there."
The Charleston Gazette, Kate White
