Dear Santa,

You asked what I wanted for Christmas, so here are a few of the wishes on my Pets-and-the-People-Who-Love-Them list.

Please give all pets safe, dry and warm places to sleep; clean, healthy and plentiful food to eat and water, medical care and the love they need and deserve.

Please help us pair every lonely person with a cat or dog who will give them the love and companionship they so desperately need. Maybe you can drop a Christmas hint or two into the ears of adult children and grandchildren to consider giving their senior parents or grandparents shelter animals that would suit their family members’ activity levels and personalities. And you might want to suggest that annual vet visits would make great birthday gifts.

If you could remind folks that donations to the Athens-Limestone Animal Shelter make great gifts, I’d really appreciate it. Most of us have far more “stuff” than we need. A gift in their loved one’s name would be a great alternative to something they don’t want or need.

Please give Priscilla and the staff and volunteers at the Athens-Limestone Animal Shelter the financial and moral support they need to keep doing what they do. I know that it can’t be easy to stay professional when faced with cruelty cases, the pressures of more animals than resources with which to care for them, and the lady dropping off yet another litter of kittens by the mother cat she refuses to have spayed.

Could you please help us get every dog and cat in Limestone County spayed or neutered so when our shelter and rescue homes are empty, we can help neighboring shelters by helping get their animals adopted.

Until the shelters are empty, could you please help us recruit more people willing to foster dogs until we can find them permanent homes or transportation to rescue groups?

Do you think you could help us get the word out to the banks, insurance companies, medical and law practices, and every other business in Athens and Limestone County that they could support the shelter by collecting needed items and making financial donations?

As you make your rounds on Christmas Eve, please collect the animals who need our help, and deliver them to shelters who will care for them. On the most sacred day of the year, my greatest wish for these animals is that they are blessed by an outpouring of love from those of us who know how truly blessed we are.

— Pets and the People Who Love Them is brought to you by your friends at the Athens-Limestone Animal Shelter. To adopt a dog or cat, please come to the shelter at 1701 U.S. 72 (behind Limestone Veterinary Clinic), visit our Facebook page or call us at 256-771-7889. Email your questions and story ideas to me at PetsAndPeople@charter.net and I’ll check with the experts (veterinarians, animal behaviorists, etc.) and get back to you in a future column.