JDBC: Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException

Question

I'm receiving the error:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
at javaapplication21.AnimalDB1.createAnimal(AnimalDB1.java:80)
at javaapplication21.AnimalDB1.main(AnimalDB1.java:137)

I have gone through other posts looking to see what would possibly be causing this but have not been able to figure it out. I have another program that performs mostly the same functions and doesn't have a problem. I've been trying to figure this out for a while and think that I need another set of eyes to point out what I'm obviously missing. I italicized the lines in question from the error. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

import static java.lang.System.out;
import java.sql.*;
import java.sql.SQLException;

public class AnimalDB1 {

private static final String url = "jdbc:derby://localhost:1527/AnimalDB";
private static final String user = "testuser";
private static final String pwd = "admin";
private static Connection connection = null;
private static int nextId = 1;
private boolean tablesCreated = false;

private static void createConnection() throws ClassNotFoundException {
try{
    Class.forName("org.apache.derby.jdbc.EmbeddedDriver");
    connection = DriverManager.getConnection(url);
    System.out.println("Connection Successful");
}
catch(SQLException e){}
}

// Increments the ID number for each animal
private void incId(){
    AnimalDB1.nextId++;
}

private void createTable() throws SQLException{
    Statement statement = null;

    try{
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder("");
        sb.append("CREATE table Animals (\n");
            sb.append("ID INTEGER NOT NULL,\n");
            sb.append("AnimalName varchar(30),\n");
            sb.append("Char1 varchar(30),\n");
            sb.append("Char2 varchar(30),\n");
            sb.append("Char3 varchar(30),\n");
            sb.append("Char4 varchar(30),\n");

        sb.append(")\n");

        // Get a statement from the connection so we can execute the query.
        statement = connection.createStatement();
        statement.executeUpdate(sb.toString());
        tablesCreated = true;
    } catch (Exception e){
        System.out.println(e.getMessage());
    } finally {
        if(statement != null){
            try {
                statement.close();
            } 
            catch(Exception e){
                System.err.println(e.getMessage());
                System.exit(0); // Something is terribly wrong so just quit the program.
            }
        }
    }
}

private void createAnimal (String animalName, String char1, String char2, String char3, String char4){
    PreparedStatement pState = null;
    try{
        String sql = "Insert into Animal values (?,?,?,?,?,?)";
        *pState = connection.prepareStatement(sql);*
        pState.setInt(1, nextId);
        pState.setString(2, animalName);
        pState.setString(3, char1);
        pState.setString(4, char2);
        pState.setString(5, char3);
        pState.setString(6, char3);

        pState.executeUpdate();
        pState.close();
        incId();
    }
    catch (SQLException e){
        System.err.println(e.getMessage());
    }
}

private static void closeConnection() {
    try {
        // Close the connection
        if(connection != null){
            connection.close();
        }

    } catch(Exception e){
        System.out.println(e.getMessage());
    }
}

public static void queryAnimals() throws SQLException{
    String query = "SELECT * FROM Animal";
    try{
        Statement stmt = connection.createStatement();
        ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(query);

        while (rs.next()){
            out.print(rs.getInt(nextId) + " ");
            out.print(rs.getString("animalName") + "  ");
            out.print(rs.getString("char1") + ", ");
            out.print(rs.getString("char2") + ", ");
            out.print(rs.getString("char3") + ", ");
            out.print(rs.getString("char4") + ", ");                               
        }
    }catch (SQLException se){}

}
public static void main(String[] args) throws ClassNotFoundException, SQLException {

    System.out.println("Welcome to the Animal Database");
    System.out.println("The list below shows all of the animals currently "
                       + "stored in the database");

    createConnection();

    AnimalDB1 db = new AnimalDB1();

    db.createTable();

    *db.createAnimal("Huskie", "White", "Long hair", "Four legs", "Paws");*
    db.createAnimal("Salmon", "Silver", "Scales", "Fins", "Swims");
    db.createAnimal("Crow", "Black", "Feathers", "Claws", "Flies");
    db.createAnimal("Black Snake", "Black", "Scales", "No Appendages", "Slithers");              

    AnimalDB1.queryAnimals();

    closeConnection();
}

}