Gamer Kid Gets Hedgehog Legalized in Kansas (Kotaku 4/1/09)

Judson King 11, looooooves him some Sonic. He asked his mom for a real hedgehog. Unfortunately, Mom said, they were banzored under city code. So he worked for three years to get it changed.

It's a heartwarming tale of a child's love and determination, and learning about things like government and how to lobby it and then go on TV later to spin the necessity of piece of narrowly drawn special-interest legislation.

Judson says he did research about the spiny rodents, "daydreamed about him every single day," and has 5,000 pictures. (Dear God, if ever an entire species needed a restraining order ...) Then, after assembling a weighty "Hedgehog Primer," he got on the agenda for Lawrence's city council. And he made a strong enough case that the board agreed there was no good reason for the continued outlawing of hedgehogs. Then they also legalized dancing and everyone got footloose. OK, kidding about the last part.