Can I have a puppy or a kitten?

Children often have some kind of live animal on their Christmas wish list. Usually it's a puppy or a kitten; but, I have been asked for a hamster, lizard, horse, iguana, frog, and a spider. And I'm sure I'll be asked for other live animals, too, at some point! Sometimes the parents try to indicate to me that it's okay, as if to say that the child is getting a puppy or kitten or some other live animal. Sometimes, though, the parents are absolutely not getting their child a live animal and the look of fear at how I might answer the question is...well...kinda funny, honestly!

I used to explain that traveling at a minimum of 650 miles per second is really too dangerous for live animals, so I leave those things up to the parents to take care of. But, I've found that kids get lost in the technical aspects of how the magic works, and besides, that's not even the real reason...

"You see, I'm a toy maker. Admittedly, I'm the best toy maker in the history of...well, toys! But, I'm still a toy maker. I don't know how to make live animals! I could make you a toy puppy or toy kitten, but a live one...well, I just don't have that kind of magic, so I don't know how make live animals. So, I will leave that one up to your parents and get you something else that's really special!"