Instantiating a collection in an Object

I have instantiated an object called objPet based on a class I generated from an XSD schema. The XML contains a repeating section of details of each animal.

How do I get the repeating XML into the objPet object?

I can get the XML into a SEPARATE object called objAnimalDetail based on the subclass PetsAnimal, BUT I DON'T WANT THAT. I want the detail in the objPet object.

How?

Class

  Imports System.Xml.Serialization

' 
' This source code was auto-generated by xsd, Version=4.0.30319.17929.
' 


''' <remarks/>
<System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute("xsd", "4.0.30319.17929")> _
<System.SerializableAttribute> _
<System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThroughAttribute> _
<System.ComponentModel.DesignerCategoryAttribute("code")> _
<System.Xml.Serialization.XmlTypeAttribute(AnonymousType:=True)> _
<System.Xml.Serialization.XmlRootAttribute([Namespace]:="", IsNullable:=False)> _
Partial Public Class Pets

Private petNumberField As String

Private locationField As String

Private animalClassField As String

Private animalsField As PetsAnimal()

''' <remarks/>
Public Property PetNumber() As String
    Get
        Return Me.petNumberField
    End Get
    Set(value As String)
        Me.petNumberField = value
    End Set
End Property

''' <remarks/>
Public Property Location() As String
    Get
        Return Me.locationField
    End Get
    Set(value As String)
        Me.locationField = value
    End Set
End Property

''' <remarks/>
Public Property AnimalClass() As String
    Get
        Return Me.animalClassField
    End Get
    Set(value As String)
        Me.animalClassField = value
    End Set
End Property

''' <remarks/>
<System.Xml.Serialization.XmlArrayItemAttribute("Animal", IsNullable:=False)> _
Public Property Animals() As PetsAnimal()
    Get
        Return Me.animalsField
    End Get
    Set(value As PetsAnimal())
        Me.animalsField = value
    End Set
End Property
End Class

''' <remarks/>
<System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute("xsd", "4.0.30319.17929")> _
<System.SerializableAttribute> _
<System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThroughAttribute> _
<System.ComponentModel.DesignerCategoryAttribute("code")> _
 <System.Xml.Serialization.XmlTypeAttribute(AnonymousType:=True)> _
Partial Public Class PetsAnimal

Private animalNameField As String

Private animalGenderField As String

Private animalTypeField As String

''' <remarks/>
Public Property AnimalName() As String
    Get
        Return Me.animalNameField
    End Get
    Set(value As String)
        Me.animalNameField = value
    End Set
End Property

''' <remarks/>
Public Property AnimalGender() As String
    Get
        Return Me.animalGenderField
    End Get
    Set(value As String)
        Me.animalGenderField = value
    End Set
End Property

''' <remarks/>
Public Property AnimalType() As String
    Get
        Return Me.animalTypeField
    End Get
    Set(value As String)
        Me.animalTypeField = value
    End Set
End Property
End Class

XML

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Pets>
<PetNumber>3</PetNumber>
<Location>Home</Location>
<AnimalClass>Mammal</AnimalClass>
<Animals>
    <Animal>
        <AnimalName>Zeus</AnimalName>
        <AnimalGender>Male</AnimalGender>
        <AnimalType>Cat</AnimalType>
    </Animal>
    <Animal>
        <AnimalName>Jinx</AnimalName>
        <AnimalGender>Female</AnimalGender>
        <AnimalType>Cat</AnimalType>
    </Animal>
    <Animal>
        <AnimalName>Spider</AnimalName>
        <AnimalGender>Female</AnimalGender>
        <AnimalType>Dog</AnimalType>
    </Animal>
</Animals>
</Pets>

Code

  Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml
Imports System.Xml.XPath
Imports Microsoft.Office.InfoPath

Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Imports System.Xml.Xsl

Imports System.Xml.Serialization
Imports ConvertXMLandBase64toFiles.Pets


  Public Class pets1
   Inherits System.Web.UI.Page

Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load

    Dim petXML As XmlDocument = New XmlDocument()

    petXML.Load("--------  insert path to pets.xml  ---------")

    Dim objPet As Pets = New Pets()

    Dim petPath As String = "/Pets"

    If petXML.HasChildNodes Then

        For Each petNode As XmlNode In petXML



            objPet.PetNumber = petXML.SelectSingleNode(petPath & "/PetNumber").InnerText.ToString()
            objPet.Location = petXML.SelectSingleNode(petPath & "/Location").InnerText.ToString()
            objPet.AnimalClass = petXML.SelectSingleNode(petPath & "/AnimalClass").InnerText.ToString()

            If petXML.SelectSingleNode(petPath & "/Animals").HasChildNodes Then

                Dim objAnimalDetail As PetsAnimal = New PetsAnimal()

                For Each animal As XmlNode In petXML.SelectSingleNode(petPath & "/Animals")


                    objAnimalDetail.AnimalName = petXML.SelectSingleNode(petPath & "/Animals/Animal/AnimalName").InnerText.ToString()  '''<---- this needs to be assigned to objPet

                    ltrl.Text = ltrl.Text & "Has Subnodes<br/>"


                Next
            Else

                ltrl.Text = ltrl.Text & "No Subnodes<br/>"

            End If
        Next
        ltrl.Text = ltrl.Text & objPet.Location.ToString
    Else
        ltrl.Text = ltrl.Text & "No Children<br/>"

    End If


End Sub

End Class