Pet Expo is a Big Success

The Lake Forest Pet expo was a big success, drawing more than 50 exhibitors and nearly 1,000 people during the 4 hour event on Saturday.

I first started the Pet Expo about 10 years ago with the help of the Friends of Lake Forest Animals, a 501 c 3 group that subsequently went on an extended cat nap. April Josephson helped revive it last year with County involvement, and now it will be a permanent part of our civic calendar.

Rescue groups with birds, pigeons, roosters, rats, mice, snakes, dogs and cats were all in attendance, along with pet supply companies providing pet food, pet sitting, dog training, and just about anything else you can think of.

Lake Forest organizations were well represented. I visited Reptile Rescue, Orange County Pet Adoption Center, Underdog Rescue, Pet County, and Arroyo Pet Hospital among others.

While I was there I saw Council members Leah Basile and Scott Voigts and Parks Commission members Jim Rosenberg and Loretta Herrin.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a Town Hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be in May.

Dr. Gardner has a dog, a cat, and 5 birds. He has a certificate in animal rehabilitation, belongs to various rescue groups, started the “seniors for seniors” program used by the County and some local shelters, and was one of the animal rescue teams from Hurricane Katrina who helped re-organize the evacuation procedures used by the Red Cross to allow pets to accompany people during crises.