Summary: Gideon Kidd has a goal to pet a million dogs for his pet project. So far, the 10-year-old boy has pet more than 750 dogs. He’s chronicled his journey on Twitter, garnering over 160,000 followers. He’ll tell us how it’s going since we last spoke to him. Also, puppies sold in pet stores, most of which are sourced from puppy mills, are often accompanied by soaring sticker prices. To make the puppies appear more affordable, private lending companies are offering leasing plans. Miss a payment and they can repossess your pup. Bill Ketzer, from ASPCA Government Relations, is asking lawmakers to end this predatory practice. Also, Millennials are less likely to become parents of “human children” because they are instead focusing on their pets. Apparently 44% of millennials are unsure if they want to have children, but their rate of pet ownership continues to rise. These animals are acting as a substitute for children according psychology professor Jean Twenge. And finally, a Missouri judge has ordered a convicted deer poacher to watch Bambi at least once a month during the year he will be spending in jail. The man is actually one of four family members implicated in a three-year hunting operation that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of deer. The prosecutor said the family mainly stalked their prey at night, killing the deer and taking their heads and antlers, and then they abandoned the carcasses. The state’s Department of Conservation called it a thrill and kill sport for the men. By the way, the one-year jail sentence was initially suspended in favor of a two-year probationary period. But the guy who now has to watch Bambi quickly violated the terms of his probation, leading the Judge to reinstate the original one-year sentence with the additional Bambi twist.
