Confessions of an Animal Collector
A small, blonde girl, nearly a year old, stands at the window in the front of her house, staring out across the street. Just beyond the green grass of her front yard and across a stretch of black asphalt, there is a German Shepherd that a young Hannah Seyl is infatuated with. It is because of this infatuation that her mother, Susie Seyl, is not surprised when she hears her daughter mutter her first word: woof.
Hannah’s first word wasn’t just the only indicator that she would become a longtime animal lover. She recalls that the first job she wanted to do was to become a farmer because she loved to play with all of the animals in her Little People farm set. Later, Hannah started a pet sitting business in the third grade with her friend, Lainey Schrag, named “Sadie and Charlie’s Pet Sitting” after the girls’ two dogs. Schrag and Seyl came up with their scheme after Schrag’s family watched a neighbor’s pet for the weekend, and Hannah just happened to come over and stay the night. Right away, the two girls began to discuss starting a business and drew up an ad. Then, they were on their way.
“It was a great set up,” Schrag recalls. “We were getting paid to take care of animals and hang out with each other, and I enjoyed every minute of it.”
Now a sophomore, Hannah is still continuing her love of animals of all kinds. Currently, she has 14 pets, including three new additions to her ever-growing pet family. The first is Eleanor (Ellie), a four month old Norwegian Elkhound that the Seyls adopted in January. Two other additions to the family are mice that Hannah caught in her family’s new home.
“[The animals] definitely make us feel at home immediately just because it’s where your family is, in your home, and the animals are definitely a big part of the family,” Seyl says about having all of her pets at home. “When the dogs are barking and the birds are making noises, it doesn’t feel like the place is empty. It definitely makes the place feel like it’s your own.”
Aside from helping to make a new house feel like a home, Seyl also says that she feels like having animals is extremely therapeutic because they don’t stress about things the way that humans do.
According to Susie, animals offer “someone to cuddle with and confide in when you’re sad,” because they won’t tell your secrets
It is because of the way that animals always offer comfort and support that Seyl still wants to continue to get pets. She isn’t the only person in her family that would still like to have more pets.
“I’d love to get a lizard someday,” says her brother, Trevor Seyl. “They’re awesome.”
As for Hannah, she’s got her heart set on getting a cat, one of the few animals that has yet to join her furry family. According to Susie, Hannah has managed to convince everyone that the family has come into contact with that a cat would be a great addition to the family.While Susie supports her daughter’s persistence, she still has to be a voice of reason for Hannah.
“Let’s not forget that her brother and I are both terribly allergic to cats,” she explains.
However much she’d like to have more animals around, Seyl knows that it has to be the right time for an animal to show up in her life.
“When I look for them, they don’t show up, so definitely they kind of come to me.” Hannah says about the possibility of finding new animals.
And even though she is always looking for ways to expand her furry, feathery family, Seyl only has one thing to say:
“I’m not an animal hoarder, I’m an animal collector.”
