Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Hearts and Paws Pet Adoption and Care Fair

hearts and paws pet adoption
My view of things.

The weather was beautiful, and I personally saw five kitties be adopted to good homes! Plus I sold a respectable amount of merchandise for a five-hour event.

When we’ve had storms nearly every afternoon for weeks, I consider my options when attending an outdoor festival, which is most of my participation in the summer months. One suprise microburst can ruin months of work and hundreds of dollars of merchandise.

And in an event such as this, every other tent was a rescue of some sort and all had animals for adoption in cages and on leashes, not to mention the animals who were visiting.

But there were no storms and no other surprises. The event hosted nearly 50 vendors and was very well-attended by the public, and it certainly seemed to me that everyone came away happy.

adult cats in cages
The adult cats for adoption.

I was a vendor, so unlike being a visitor and being able to mill around I was confined to the area where my tent was, all the way at one end of two rows of vendors. As I tossed my tent and bins onto the grass in my spot, one of the women from Animal Care and Welfare asked me if it was okay if I was near cats because they were going to have cages with cats and kittens on the table next to me. “Wait until you see my stuff!” I said.

orange kitten adopted
Orange and white kitten is adopted!

People started visiting immediately, and the kittens in the cages were a hit. A young couple visited, then visited again, and a little orange kitten with white paws was the first one to be adopted!

As others visited the cages I greeted visitors in my tent, my merchandise constantly rearranged by the wonderful breeze blowing through. I saw several friends, many of whom I trade e-mails with for homeless kitties—it’s nice to see these people “in person”!

two kittens
Two kittens going home together!

Next a woman came back to look at two of the other kittens. She had never had a pet but had been considering adopting for a while, and advised by a friend of hers who was on the staff of the event decided she’d take a chance on the kittens. We all told her about the benefit and joy of watching two kittens grow up and assured her she’d be telling us all cat stories next year. She adopted a playful black and white kitten and a classic black kitten who has a lot of Oriental in him with a dignified bearing, radar-dish ears and a long nose with a regal bump. I loved the black and white kitten, but I have the feeling that black kitten is going to be a very special adult.

orange and white adult
Nova is adopted.
black and white adult cat
Pongo is adopted too!

And before she was even complete, another two women came back for another visit to decide exactly which two adult cats they were going to adopt to be friends with their current adult cat. The two women were mother and daughter and had met and discussed all the adults and the one older kitten and decided on the laid-back long-haired tan and white kitty, Nova, and the eight-month-old black and white kitten, Pongo, who had been big-brothering the little ones in the kitten cage.

tortie cat
Tammy

There is still one little gray kitten who needs a home, two orange adults, Teresa and Rusty, and one semi-long-haired tortie cat with a perfect little orange diamond on her head named Tammy.

Animal Care and Welfare is operated by the owners and staff of Paws Here a While Pet Resort.

I hope all the other rescue and adoption organizations did as well!

two dogs
Two dogs for adoption.

Several rescued dogs were being walked around, including these two mixes—a little pug, a little Pom, a little Chihuahua? Nobody knows because they were found over the winter and no one claimed them.

I was excited to debut my crocheted pawprints, printed gift bags and tote bags at this event! Even though they’ve been available for a while, it never feels as if they’ve “arrived” until they’ve been seen by the public at a show or festival. I had great feedback and several sales.

I wish I could have gotten more of the stories and visited more people, but I barely had the chance. I’ll have to find an assistant one of these days.

Thanks to Hearts & Paws Pet Ministry from Christ United Methodist Church for planning and hosting this event. This is the seventh year, and it’s only gotten bigger each year! I’m looking forward to next year already.

Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

4 thoughts on “Hearts and Paws Pet Adoption and Care Fair

  • I know–we all put up a cheer for those two! The kittens will allow room for at least one adult cat too, so another cat can come in off the street or from a shelter where it’s in danger of euthanazation. It’s always the big “kitty shuffle” after one of these.

    Reply
  • Ihavecat

    I’m so happy to hear the event went so swimmingly Bernadette! That’s super. But I’m MOST happy to hear that 2 adult cats got adopted. That make me all warm inside 🙂

    Reply
  • That looks like such a fun day and the best news is that those kittens and cats got adopted. What a great get together for everyone.
    Have a good week.

    Reply

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