Ciara LaVelle is an award-winning writer who’s loved animals ever since her family adopted their first pet, a hamster named Izzy, when she was 8 years old. These days, she’s mama to a rescue pup named Zeno, a sleek and sassy cat named Manny, too many fish to name here, and a garden full of sunflowers and succulents—oh, and two tiny humans who keep her busier than all of the above combined. As a BeChewy editor, she loves bringing stories about pets and the people who love them to life. (Plus, she can’t believe she gets paid to think about adorable animals all day.)