A girl named Madeline, who has a wild imagination and a remarkable grasp of how bureaucracy can shatter dreams, gets her wish when she asks the Los Angeles animal control authorities for a license to own a rhino–if they can ever find one.
The first permit of its kind, however, had conditions: the mythical creature must be adequately exposed to the sun, moonlight, and rainbows, and have its horn polished at least once a month with a soft cloth.
Superintendent Marcia Maeda, of the county Department of Animal Welfare and Control, sent the girl a metallic pink heart-shaped card emblazoned with her “Permanent Unicorn License,” along with a fuzzy white doll with pink ears and purple legs and hooves. Silver Horn.
The department’s response came after the girl wrote him a brief note last month: “Dear Los Angeles County, I’d like your approval if I could have a unicorn in my backyard if I could find one.”
Maeda commended the young woman for “feeling a responsibility to own a pet with prior permission” and for thinking about “the requirements of an animal-loving family.”
The agency published pictures of the correspondence, license, medal and a stuffed toy on its accounts on social networking sites, while concealing the girl’s name.
The five unicorn ownership mandates also require that any glitter or glitter sprinkled on the animal be non-toxic and biodegradable, and that watermelon be fed at least once a week.
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