Sam's Pet Sitting

A Little History

Lisanne and Ginger

From the moment my parents brought me home from the hospital and placed our family dog Ginger (that's me with Ginger at right) inside my crib, my life has been interconnected with animals. As a child, I constantly dragged (sometimes unwillingly) some cat or dog home to pass parental muster. Most were deemed unworthy (the grandfather clock took a lot of direct hits) and foisted onto friends and neighbors. If I'd been allowed to keep all the animals I brought home, we'd have needed ten acres.

In summer I was sent to a Farm & Ranch camp in Palos Hills, where I cared for horses, pigs, ducks, rabbits and more. When my father once picked me up without my mother in tow, I convinced him we really needed two rabbits. Boy, mom was hopping mad when we got home...

I started caring for other people's pets as a teen. Several people on my paper route wanted their dogs let out during the day because work demanded long hours. That's pretty much how it all started.

At 18, I interned at the Lincoln Park Children's Zoo (where I learned to handle just about anything from armadillos to owls) and I spent a year volunteering at the Anti-Cruelty Society during college. On occasion, I help a vet friend make house calls. I've now cared for animals for more than half of my life. You could even say I prefer animals to people (except when it comes to French kissing).