A little girl in Los Angeles applied for a licence to keep unicorns – and got it

Oonagh Keating. Updated December 13th, 2022

Over on their Facebook page, the County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control has shared a lovely story about a little girl’s unusual request.

They wrote –

This brought us so much JOY so we thought we should share with everyone.

Madeline wrote us a letter requesting permission to have a unicorn in her backyard if she could find one. It is always rewarding to hear from young people who thoughtfully consider the requirements of providing a loving home to animals.

We commend Madeline’s sense of responsible pet ownership to seek permission in advance to keep a unicorn in Los Angeles County. As a result, we issued her a preapproved unicorn license.

Also, in the meantime, because they are indeed very rare to find, we will be providing her the unicorn pictured below as she continues her search.

Thank you Madeline for reaching out to our department.

Why, yes – we DO license unicorns!

This was Madeline’s letter.

via GIPHY

They did, indeed, send a letter in response – and it couldn’t have been better.

If you’ve ever wondered what a unicorn licence might look like – and who hasn’t? – this is your lucky day.

Of course, when Madeline finds a unicorn, it will need a tag to wear – to prove it’s licensed and not one of those unruly stray unicorns we hear about.

As the Department’s letter pointed out, unicorns are *coughs* rare, so this is the placeholder they sent.

The whole thing went down very well with Facebook users.

This just made my morning! For you to take the time to make a little girl’s request be heard is beyond priceless. You have created a core memory for her! Bravo to all of you!
Jonalee Limbacher Fernatt

The fact that you took the time to not only answer her but to also approve her request with very real requirements is proof that there are still good people left in seats of power. You could have just as easily blown her off.
Cindy Conn Valdez

Speechless! thanks for your services, above and beyond! 👏👏👏😃
An Nguyen

This is just the sweetest thing🦄
Hope Love

Wow, what a beautiful story! This just goes to show how you can use your position and authority to celebrate dreams and hopes of a child.
Jim Stannard

Amazing story. Restores my faith in humanity a little bit.
Terri Byrne

This is how to do it! I love this story on so many levels.
Rachelle Mason

This post by Kim Fox-Kristensen was particularly heartwarming.

You were so very kind and thoughtful to respond to Madeline. My 5th/6th grade class loved this story and you got wild applause when I read this story to them. We think you are wonderful human beings and are very glad you are in charge of animals – we happen to be big fans of animals (including unicorns). And kids.

We have a feeling the Department of Animal Care and Control should brace itself for a lot more letters.

Source County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control