Turning into a sap

This morning as I was driving into work I was listening to the announcer talking about the Canadian army’s recent attempt at using donkeys to help out soldiers in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the use of donkeys was unsuccessful as the gear they were carrying was much too heavy for them. Apparently, one donkey ran away and one drowned trying to carry gear across a river. I have no idea why, but I found that so sad. :-( Poor donkey. I'm such a sap when it comes to animals since I got Pacha. I can't watch any reports where animals get abused or read stories about puppy mills. It makes me wonder how I'll be when I have kids. Right now I have no problem dealing with sick kids and would like to work in paediatrics... but maybe I'll turn into mush after I have kids. I wonder if there is a way to predict such things?