Slipping your sweetie a slice of sweet potato or a green bean as you cook Thanksgiving dinner is a tender tradition of the holiday.
Of course, we're talking about the sweetie stretched out on the floor by the warm oven, not the other sweeties who will sit at the holiday table and serve themselves casserole and turkey. Our pets are our quiet and true kitchen companions while we make the big holiday meals, even as the humans in the house turn on the game in the other room or head outside to play.
But if a sweet potato-craving sweetie isn't lolling on the kitchen floor next to the warm oven, and you're keenly feeling that absence, there's a way to remedy that: adoption. It's a fine idea, with so many cats and dogs needing homes at any time of the year, and if you don't have a load of people coming over for the holiday, and you're doing Thanksgiving at a friend's, this could be the optimal week to welcome a new friend home, especially if you have a few calm days off from work.
And you can make a date to stop by the Found Animals' Adopt & Shop in Culver City. Billed as "the only nonprofit pet retail store in California," the Adopt & Shop also places lovies in forever homes. And they've got a holiday special on, from Nov. 23 through 30, and it is this: Your pet adoption from the Culver City location will cost fifty bucks.
Which is a sweet song for a new sweetie who might be at your side, and in front of the warm oven on the kitchen floor, for ten or 15 or even 20 Thanksgivings to come. You can see some of the cuties available for adoption now on the website, but swing by the Adopt & Shop and you just might see beasties who are totally new to you, too.
It's always a question whether introducing a new pet over a holiday period is a wise move. But, again, if Thanksgiving is on the chill side at your pad — maybe your neighbor is hosting — and you've got a few days at home to introduce a fresh friend to the territory, this could be the moment of magic.
Next year? It's your turn to host Thanksgiving again, with your well-settled-in dog or cat at your side as guests arrive. Very much at your side, as they know you're the person in charge of the sweet potato casserole and yummy green beans.
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Do they hang out in the kitchen because they A) love you or B) hanker for a treat? The answer is a sweet C) -- both, of course.
