Katharine Mehta's mother likes to joke that the first sentence her daughter said was“I love dogs.”It's not the fact, but it's certainly true in spirit.
“When I was young, my grandmother told me about how she sometimes found stray dogs and cats, and kept them on her farm as pets，”says Katharine.“That made me wonder what would happen when animals didn't have a home.I felt horrible thinking that they might be hungry or could get hit by a car.”
But what could a little girl do？The answer came during a trip to a park in her New York City neighborhood two years ago, where she met volunteers from Mighty Mutts, a local nokill animal rescue organization.“I thought maybe I could earn some money and give it to them，”she says.
Since Katharine had plenty of practice taking care of her own dog, she decided to start a summer dogwalking service.She chose two friends and, with their parents'permission, the group put up homemade posters with their phone numbers and a bargain price—50 cents an hour.Before long they had 15 dogs in their care.“We walked two or three at a time with one mother helping out，”she says.“By the end of that summer, we'd collected $45.”That fall Katharine and her mother，Loma, came up with another mini enterprise to raise money for Mighty Mutts—selling freshbaked shortbread to their neighbors.
The 11yearold，who starts sixth grade this fall, has become a nonstop campaigner.Her mother says，“When she sees somebody with a dog, she starts a conversation and tells them to donate to Mighty Mutts.”
Katharine's passion comes from the heart.“It makes me cry to think that strays might be_put_to_sleep when there's a group that can find new homes for them，” Katharine says.“But it makes me smile to know I can help.”
Notes：
①stray adj.流浪的 ②shortbread n ． 黄油甜酥饼
