Animals Get Groomed for Pet Adoption Fair

Thousands of homeless animals are getting washed, brushed and powdered as shelters across the Southland prepare them for this weekend’s pet adoption fair at Los Alamitos Race Course.

“This puppy will get really big, at least 75 pounds, and will need a big home and owners who will walk him at least twice a day,” Eliza Rubenstein said Thursday as she bathed a 3-month-old Akita-mix.

Rubenstein is volunteer coordinator at the Irvine Animal Care Center, which plans to show several puppies and kittens at the fair. More than 100 other animal shelters will bring dogs and cats, as well as horses, ponies, goats, pigs, snakes, iguanas, rabbits, turkeys and about a dozen other kinds of animals.

The fluffy, the cute, the ugly, the hairless, the feathered, the quiet and the loud will be on display from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The hope is that all will find good homes.

Organizers of what is being billed as the world’s largest pet adoption fair said that their aim is to get people to spare the lives of the abandoned animals by adopting them.

Michael West, publisher of the Get-A-Pet photo adoption magazine, which is sponsoring the event, said that its purpose is twofold.

“First, we want to find homes for all the animals attending,” he said. “The second, equally important goal is to really heighten public awareness that adoption is the best way to save a life and not contribute to the animal overpopulation problem. The fair is a fabulous method for us to get that message across.”

Some of the animals will be available for on-the-spot adoptions, while others may require that potential owners fill out applications and spend some time with their future pets before taking them home.

The race course is at 4961 Katella Ave. Admission to the fair is $5 for adults, $2.50 for children 5 to 12, and free for those younger.