The 9th Annual Pet Fest will celebrate International Homeless Animal’s Day at the Adams Center, Saturday, August 16 from 10:00am until 3:00pm. The one-day event will feature Davis’ Muttley Crew, a rescued dog act from America’s Got Talent, along with Pet Fest regular events, the Doggie Olympics and the Wacky Wiener Dog Dash.
Pet Fest will be a day filled with family oriented entertainment, contests and pet adoptions. Pet Fest is also an outstanding shopping venue of products and services for pets and families. There are also many pet adoption agencies participating with on-site animals for locals to bring the family and meet their new best friend.
This year, the participating agencies are the Humane Society of Western Montana, Montana Companion Animal Network, Missoula Animal Control, Animeals, Bitter Root Humane Association, RezQ Dogs and Thompson River Animal Care Shelter. RezQ Dogs comes all the way from north-central Montana, and will be bringing abandoned dogs for adoption from the Fort Belknap and Rocky Boy Indian reservations. Many shelters will have litters of puppies.
In addition to the adoptions, the contests will be filled with the usual fun and antics. Pets of all ages, sizes and abilities have a chance to go for the gold in the Doggie Olympics where owners range in age and size just as much as their furry friends do. The contests include “Dress Your Best Pet”, “Peanut Butter Lick”, “I’ve Got Rhythm Musical Sit”, “America’s Got Animals with Talents” and “Babe Ruth Obedience Baseball”. Contests kick off at 10:30am.
At 2:00 is the ever popular “Wacky Wiener Dog Dash”. Four-legged participants are divided into 3 age categories: Little Smokies – up to 3 yrs, Frankfurters – 3 yrs up to 6 yrs, Bratwurst – 6 yrs and over. Dogs and handlers line up at the starting mark while the second handler kneels at finish line. On Mayor John Engen’s signal, the dogs are released and the fun begins.
New to Pet Fest is the featured entertainment at 11:00am, Bert Davis and the Muttley Crew. Like all of Pet Fest, this show is free to the public and guaranteed to thrill kids and adults alike. These loveable rescue mutts reached the third round of competition on America’s Got Talent in 2010. Bert’s dogs were also recognized by National Geographic in 2002 in a television documentary titled: “Dogs with Jobs”, and Bert has appeared in numerous PBR telecasts and the CMT documentary: “Stomped and Gored”, plus a variety of other television features.
Pet Fest has been held at Caras Park in the past but has made the move to the Adams Center to accommodate more shelters, rescues and vendors. This year includes over 20 vendors selling products and services for pets and people. Some are locally made products just for pets like natural soaps and handmade collars and leashes.
Pet Fest is free to attend but attendees are encouraged to bring a donation of pet food. New, unopened bags of cat and dog food will be shared equally among the participating shelters and rescues. Pet owners are allowed to bring vaccinated, leashed or contained pets to Pet Fest and they are encouraged to read the rules for bringing pets on the website.
“Our goal is to share our mission of responsible pet ownership.” said event coordinator, Megan Baumann. “Animal shelters are faced with an incredible burden of dogs and cats that they cannot find homes for. Having pets spayed and neutered ensures that pet owners will not be adding to the problem. Adopting from shelters and rescues provides loving homes instead of sitting in a cage waiting for a home or being humanely euthanized.” Pet Fest is just one of the organizations around the world that come together on the third Saturday of August to raise awareness about the pet overpopulation epidemic.
For more information, contact Megan or Linda Baumann, Event Coordinators, at 406-203-4200.