Portland pets just went to the pet fair - slide-show included

Saturday was the Pet Fair at the Expo Center in Portland. It was really a fair for the pets, and not one for the people who own them. Right outside the door they took donations of cash and dog food for the Ani-Meals program, who delivers pet food to those on the Meals on Wheels program.

Walking in we noticed everyone had brought their pets with them, and for good reason. There were things for the pets to do. You could stop by a booth and get something for your pet to snack on, or buy them some presents, like collars, dishes, sweaters and shirts, and of course there were some stops that sold pet beauty products, as well.

Your pet could also stop at a booth to play a game or try their hand (er.. paw) at herding a few goats. There were 6 goats, three in the corral at a time, and they stayed in a huddle, even when they ran from the dogs. None of the dogs ever reached a goat, they were all on leashes, but if the dogs even looked at them cross, the goats were ready to bolt.

There were several obstacle courses (a popular activity) for the dogs, they can be seen in the background of some of the photos in the slide-show. Or the dogs could go to the Air Dog display where pets were encouraged to go for a swim in a huge indoor pool. There was an area for your pets to relieve themselves, too. They’d thought of everything.

There were cats, rabbits, reptiles and even a mountain lion and a cerval! The cerval was very nervous and paced a lot, looking at the people looking at him. He kept licking his hunk of meat; he looked hungry, but too tense to eat.

The Oregon Humane Society had some cats and dogs there and ready for adoption. The cats were in cages, as they don’t do well on leashes, but there were six beautiful adult felines. Two were fast asleep and the others watched judgingly the goings on around them.

There was an entire reptile display, too. Lizards, snakes, the biggest frog I’d ever seen and several lively turtles. And the thing that I thought I’d see in my sleep (but didn’t, luckily) was a BIRD EATING SPIDER! I’ve seen pictures of these things and they’ve been on nature shows on TV, but this was right there in front of me. He was huge and his legs were fat, and he looked a little like he was thinking, ‘Go ahead, stick your hand in here.’

It was a great time all around, for the people and the animals. My dog didn’t go but he got some cool new stuff from it. Next year I’m going again, and I’m going to bring Harley and you should come with your pet, Portland. See you there?