Caitlin Rosendorn of Bloomington, age 6, loves to pet animals. She declines to eat them.

The Stevenson Elementary School kindergartner also is undeniably cute.

Her love for animals, her dietary choice and her adorability fused to make her one of two World's Cutest Vegetarian Kids, as selected last month by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

At home, Caitlin easily avoids meat; none is present. Her mother, Melanie Hany, and Hany's fiancé, Scott Puckett, are longtime vegetarians.

But Hany points out that Caitlin's father, Joshua Rosendorn of Chicago, is proud of the girl despite his meat preference - a fondness for ribs, in particular.

Both mother and daughter say Caitlin's choice to become vegetarian is her own.

At 6, she has a lifetime of decisions to make, and she could reverse on the meat issue without repercussions, her mother said. "It could be a phase."

Crucial, her mother added, is that Caitlin is being taught to make decisions.

Both sides of her family - meat-eaters, minus Hany - have been supportive of Caitlin and proud of her winning the contest, Hany said.

Stops at Burger King through the years gave Caitlin the option of eating hamburgers. At about age 4, Caitlin started opting for veggie burgers instead of meat, said Hany.

Caitlin's reason is basic. "Because I like animals," she said, although she conceded her father, for one, can like animals while also eating meat.

However, Caitlin added that in her own case, the love for animals rules out eating meat.

One of her TV shows has been "Kid Nation," the reality show about children running a town. Caitlin found it disturbing that one of the powerful children on the show, Taylor, advocated killing the chickens that she deemed to be ugly, while sparing the cute ones.

She said only one girl at school has teased her about being a vegetarian, while two friends at Stevenson School have stopped eating meat.

She is eager to espouse vegetarianism.

The other day, two visitors to her home asked her about being a vegetarian; with no prompting, she made them oatmeal in the microwave.

Hany became a vegetarian at age 13. She said she did it to be cool and to separate herself from the crowd.

Now 26, Hany's motivations changed over time.

"It's the way animals are treated before being dispatched from this world," she said. "They are commodities instead of living, breathing creatures."

She said she doesn't belong to PETA but goes to its Internet site and the companion site for children, www.petakids.com, where she learned about the World's Cutest Vegetarian Kid contest. She said she entered her daughter only after Caitlin agreed it was a good idea.

The contest, PETA's first, was suggested by PETA supporters as a spin-off to PETA's annual sexiest vegetarian contests for adults. PETA is a worldwide organization supporting vegetarianism, preferring veganism, and opposed to fur and other animal products as clothes.

The contest was conducted to stir conversation about vegetarianism, said Dan Shannon, PETA's assistant director of youth outreach. Because it generated 348 entries in a month, he said he is

sure PETA will conduct the contest again.

"It was a way to spotlight happy, healthy vegetarian kids," he said.

As with the adult "sexiest vegetarians" contests, the cute kid contest required a male and female winner. Ian Kaminski, 7, of North Syracuse, N.Y., was the cutest boy. Each was awarded $100 and some smaller prizes.

The judging was highly subjective, Shannon said by telephone from PETA headquarters in Norfolk, Va. Mainly, he said, it involved a small committee from the office cooing over photos of adorable children.

There was more to the contest than looks and lifestyle choice. Guardians submitted testimonials.

In Caitlin's case, that meant discussion of her work for the Humane Society of Central Illinois, where she and her mother volunteer.

Caitlin helps socialize dogs and cats by petting and playing with them. It gives the animals human interaction, making them more easily adaptable to homes once they get adopted. At her home, she helps care for two cats, Flower and Fauna.

Caitlin's hobbies include playing Wii video games. She likes picking her outfit in the morning, and her mother tries not to veto too many choices.

The girl's musical tastes are mature and show a preference for women vocalists. Rainer Maria, Rilo Kiley and Joan Jett are among favorites.

Her mother is a veterinary technician at the Animal Emergency Clinic in Bloomington and wants to become a veterinarian. Caitlin, at this stage in life, wants to follow.

Hany said she won't apply pressure on career decisions.

"As long as she makes up her own mind, I'll be proud of her."