In the past year the headlines of this newspaper and others around the country have been a little disheartening. First, there was the Michael Vick dogfighting case. Then there was the case of the abandoned animals in Essex and again more dogfighting in Dudley. Then Monday there was another case of animal cruelty from a vet in Kennett.

Unfortunately, the list goes on and on and while we are continuing to read about the cruelty to animals, we often overlook the good stories. One of those stories is Kennedy Dillow of Jackson.

Dillow just turned 7 and is an animal lover. For the last year, she has made jewelry to sell so the profits could be turned over to a local humane society. Last week, she wrote a check for $803. Of course, that followed her first check of over $1,000.

Now I don't know about you but when I was 7, I sure wasn't raising money to help animals. I was probably playing with Hot Wheels, annoying every girl within eyeshot and running my parents ragged. No way was I thinking of animals.

As a matter of fact, Dillow started when she was a lot younger. Guests at her third birthday party were asked to bring supplies or make monetary gifts to the humane society rather than buy her gifts. To me that is amazing. When I was 3, I was a "bring me a gift or don't come" type of kid.

Dillow has two dogs and 10 fish and her father told a local newspaper that "she would like to have more animals, but I won't let her take every one home." Making the bracelets to raise money for the animals is just a way she can help.

I am a lot like Dillow. Growing up I lived in the country where people would drop off litters of kittens to be rid of them. Usually one or two would find their way up to our house and I would feed them and tame them. Of course, they would then run off or get killed and up would come another kitten.

Today, my wife and I have two rat terriers along with two cats and would have more if they weren't such a handful. I don't know how many times I've had to say no when my wife was telling me about this kitten or a friend tells me about a puppy that needs a home. And believe me it isn't easy saying no, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

To me animals are hard not to like. As a matter of fact, many times I would rather be around them than people. I come home from work and am greeted by my two dogs, jumping up and down, acting like they haven't seen me in a month. That's a good feeling unlike when I walk into a room of people and many of them groan because I'm there. I also like it when my dogs jump up in the chair and sleep with me when I'm watching television. I don't have any children, but my dogs aren't far from it.

In return, the dogs don't ask for much. A meal-a-day and they are happy, although they sure do like to give you that "look" when you sit down for supper. Play with them a little bit and rub them for a few minutes and they're loyal forever.

Cats are a different story. Their mood swings are worse than my wife's and I'm pretty sure one of them is plotting a way to kill me as I write this. But as trying as they can be, I still couldn't imagine being cruel to them or dropping them off in the country to fend for themselves.

Of course, I can't even fathom making a dog fight to the death, or having a dog that is starving or diseased.

I guess that is why seeing the story of the little girl in Jackson was a nice change of pace. Hopefully we will see less of the dogfighting and animal cruelty and more of the feel-good animal stories. Of course, if my cat has her way, I may not be seeing much of anything soon.