When Shanin Leeming was in second grade, she asked for a job. She wanted to take care of animals at her local Humane Society shelter. "You're too young," said the shelter workers. But animal-loving Shanin didn't give up. She bugged the staff members for a year, until they finally let her help. "I've worked there ever since," says Shanin, now 13. The American Humane Association appreciates her work so much that the group named her its 1997 National Be Kind to Animals Kid.
"I groom and walk pets, bathe dogs and train them to make them adoptable," she says. "Kids contact me if they're interested in adopting."
Shanin takes her work home too. She has cared for many species at her Merritt Island, Florida, house. Her dad helped her build an aviary, which is a giant birdcage, for sick and injured birds. The Leemings live on the Indian River, where Shanin searches by boat for birds in need of help. "I've taken care of peacocks, ducks, sparrows, pigeons and even a pelican," she says.
Tending to sick animals can be hard work, Shanin says. "It isn't easy getting up in the middle of the night." For two years, she has also trained pups to be guide dogs for the blind.
Sometimes she takes sick animals to school so she can feed them regularly. "I bring them in a small kennel, and they aren't a distraction," says Shanin. Well, there was that day the principal taught a social-studies class and Shanin's birds just wouldn't stop screeching!
Shanin has even given up her Christmas presents so the money can go to help animals. "It makes me feel so good," she says. "That's the gift!"