Hundreds of people spent at least part of the beautiful weekend weather inside the Roanoke Special Events Center for the annual PetEx. The Expo, now in its third year, drew vendors and organizations from across the Commonwealth. Most people had a dog by their side but there was at least one cat, an iguana, and a mouse in a walking harness in attendance.
Terry and Donna Shelton waited for a reading from Karen Wrigley, the pet communicator. They had three members of the Chinese Crested breed; 11-year-old Solitaire and 10-year-old Natasha, who were riding in a baby buggy, and Soli’s 2-year-old son, Elvis, who was walking by Terry’s side. When asked why they liked that breed he said, “That was the first dog she had ever gotten and they’re together about 23 hours a day.”
Several ferrets were burrowing and sleeping in an exercise pen. Debbie Saunders from the Big Lick Ferret Shelter & Hospice and the Star City Ferret Club says her groups had a booth for the second year in a row.
“A lot of people don’t know that there’s a ferret shelter in town. It’s a great resource for getting a ferret instead of having to go to a pet shop and getting a baby and then not knowing what ferrets are all about. With a shelter, you get the support from people that know about ferrets. If you have a problem, we can help you with it.”
Saunders says ferrets make great pets but you need to know how to care for them.
“They’re very loving. They love their people. They are the best qualities of a dog and a cat in one critter. They are perpetual babies; they are constantly playing.” But she says they require a special high protein-based diet
Ferrets live from 5 to 9 years and are prone to several cancers. Saunders says distemper is 100 percent fatal.
Some of the activities during the 2-day event included teaching your dog a trick, hearing a panel discussion among area veterinarians, and having a caricature done of your pet by local artist Kyle Edgell. This year’s guest speaker was Best Selling author John O’Hurley, who starred as J. Peterman on “Seinfeld” and is the host of Purina’s National Dog Show. He talked how he took what he learned from his dogs and turned it into a book. He says every 15 minutes for a dog is a brand new day.
As humans, he says we regret what we’ve done and worry so much about what we should be doing that we forget to live.
“A dog doesn’t remember because it doesn’t need to remember. A dog doesn’t live in the past. A dog doesn’t live for the future. A dog lives just for the moment.” Something we humans could put into practice.
– Beverly Amsler
