I have always been a fan of Catherine Ledner's work, particularly her book ANIMAL HOUSE.  Here are some questions I posed to the photographer:

Did you have animals growing up?

Yes!  As a family we had many pets.  When I was very young, we had a Springer Spaniel named Light bulb, because of the light bulb shaped marking on one of her eyes.  We then had a Cocker Spaniel named Snoopy, named after my favorite cartoon character at the time.   Later we had a chocolate Labrador named Tasha, not sure how she got that name.  For smaller critters, we had a bevy: rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, hamsters, fish and turtles.  My mom and dad are definitely animal people.  Thank goodness they indulged my two brothers and I in our love of animals.