STEAM
All hail the furry friends!
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By Dominika Kubinyova
Most devoted animal lovers and owners of pets of all shapes and sizes met on the weekend of 6th and 7th May to admire our furry friends at the National Pet Show in EXCEL, East London.
Visitors, as well as exhibitors, could get advice from vets and pet experts and meet all sorts of furry (and not so furry) critters. With Shetland ponies, reptiles, dogs, cats and exotic birds, the show was the cutest possible event happening this weekend.
The event started at 9:30am on Saturday, with live talks about various animals and a puppy training show, in which puppies of various breeds and sizes learned to do tricks and commands.
By 11am, all animals were ready to be petted, squeezed and loved.
And if you thought that this type of fun is only suitable for kids, think twice. The hall was filled with teenagers, young couples and groups of friends. Some of them were looking for advice, while the other ones came to get some win-win puppy and animal love.
Patricia Bajtosova, 25, a student from East London, was with her boyfriend Philip. “We are thinking about buying either a bunny or a guinea pig, so we came to have a look and find out more about them,” said Patricia while petting a Lionhead Lop bunny in one of the enclosures.
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The main hall was split between sections, such as a cat section, dog area, small furies, horses, insects and a reptile zone.
The dog area boasted stalls for different dog breeds, an agility park, talks and competition areas. There were also shops with food and accessories for every pooch. Shows such as dog dancing, agility and competition were held all day long, with the crowd watching and cheering loudly.
Liz Austin, from Just Springers Rescue, took her Springer Spaniels Becca, Lily and Mia to EXCEL to show everyone how amazing this dog breed is. “We rescue and rehome Springer Spaniels and advise people on the care and training of their dogs,” she says.
According to Liz, a lot of people give up their dogs when they can’t train them and that’s what her charity is trying to stop. “All of our dogs are rescue dogs and they’re so grateful to have families, you can see it in their faces,” adds Liz as she strokes Becca, who’s clearly enjoying all the attention.
Everyone loves dogs and cats, but the show also had exotic and unusual participant – not only ponies and donkeys, but also komodo dragons and a Sulcata tortoise called Barry, who weighed 70kg. Amongst the little furries were rats, bunnies, ferrets, hamsters and chinchillas.
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A stall called Guinea Pig circus sold accessories such as feeders, bowls, mugs and even plush houses for guinea pigs, with everything designed to look like a mini circus. “Me and my wife rescued few Guinea pigs and since I’m a product designer myself, working from home, I’ve always had the chance to watch them run around the house and see what they’re interested in doing, what keeps them stimulated,” said Haypigs founder, Rick Cridland.
“This is our first exhibition and if it’s successful and people love it, we might have a completely different theme in next two years,” he added.
The event was full of fun workshops where people could make their own pet toys, home decorations and accessories, for example a willow ball. Visitors could also buy and win a lot of food and treats for their pets, so no one went home empty-handed. And for those who didn’t have enough, on Sunday it happened all over again.