Mom, can we get a cow?

I love animals. I always thought that I REALLY loved animals. I thought that until about 5 years ago when Megan was 3 and started "Saving" the lives of worms on the sidewalk. Megan still does this every spring. The worms float up onto the sidewalk and then the sun comes out. Megan picks them up and tosses them off into the grass to save them from an agonizing burning death. Megan is now 8 and wants a cow. A COW!!!! Not a pony, she can ride, not a duck to follow her around our pond, not another dog to play with our Lucy.... A COW. She announced this the other day on the way home from school...."mom, I want a cow, Can we please get a cow?" Hmmmm let me think - NO. "Why, please mom....please can't we get a cow?" Now... I thought what I was about to say would have been something she already knew. I really think she did know it, but chose to selectively forget it. "Megan, there are 2 types of cows... The milking cow that must be milked 2 times a day; Once at 4:00 in the morning (her eyes got huge and I saw the disapproval in her face), and once at night". "The other type is Beef cows. Once they hit a certain age, you either need to sell the cow to someone who will slaughter (tough word, I know) it to eat it, or you need to do that yourself (the eyes of disgust that I saw were obvious). I know about Megan's obsession with animals... but I can honestly say I don't 100% get it, I am trying to.... I am desperate to "get it". Again, I always thought I loved animals the most I could... I guess there is more love that people can give. We were watching EIGHT BELOW the other night. This is a movie about sled dogs. Megan had a hard time at the movie theater watching this about 4 years ago... I thought she could handle it now. We got to a certain point of the movie and I had to turn it off. I knew "forcing" her to watch this would be wrong. She was so visibly upset that I turned it off and we watched light hearted SNOW BUDDIES instead. Megan is such a caring, kind hearted little girl. I try to be extra cautious of her animal attachment. I thank God for blessing me with one of my dearest friends Shelly, to help me through the tough times with Megan's passion. Shelly has the same passion and I can grasp it a little more. Megan has to save the worms... she has to save every creature that comes injured, sick, or hurt to our home... Megan has to know what species of animal it was that was hit on the road (this one, I still just don't get)... She has to look up animal information on the internet... I know this is Megan's passion. I will do what I can to help nurture that. Despite the fact that we do not live on a farm, I respect her enough to NOT get her a cow. I know it is one animal that we just can't keep forever... and I know it is not one that she could emotionally raise the way she would like. Just like my friend Shelly tells me... part of being a good pet owner and an animal lover is knowing your limits. Just as we can not take in hundreds of dogs to satisfy Megan's passion...we can not own a cow.