Annual Pet Fest draws 2-, 3- and 4-legged fans

The song blaring on the loudspeaker set the tone. Men, women and children filed into the ring, leading their dachshunds around the ring to the sound of “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor.

One woman’s metal sign underscored the light tone of the event, a series of races between the small dogs commonly referred to as “wieners.”

“Be afraid. Be very afraid,” it read, with the black outline of a dachshund in the middle.

“Now that’s a lot of wieners,” race emcee Margo Mossburg said as about 40 dachshunds of all different colors and hair lengths walked around the ring with their owners, warming up for the races. “Is this fun or what?”

Mossburg is director of the Dachshund Club of Spokane and Dachshund Rescue NW, which sponsors the races as part of the annual Pet Fest expo. Animal lovers from all over the Inland Northwest flocked to the Spokane County fairgrounds with their pets Saturday for the first day of the two-day event, now in its fifth year.

It’s advertised as a social event for pets that promotes responsible pet ownership through training and adoption. Event proceeds go to the Spokane Humane Society.

Though dogs dominated the landscape Saturday, cats, goats, hamsters and other creatures were around, too. Hamsters competed in a ball derby earlier in the afternoon. Agility competitions and costume, talent and obedience competitions followed.

The event promotes a more relaxed atmosphere than traditional dog show competitions, said Christina Hartig of the Lilac City Dog Training Club.

“It’s not at all an obedience competition – we just do this for fun,” she said. “It’s about family, pets and fun.”

Vendors – including animal shelters and rescue groups – set up booths, and people and their pets milled about, meeting one another.

“It’s good socialization for them,” explained Shirley Bader. Bader traveled from Post Falls with her two Welsh Corgis, 3-year-old Matilda and 5-year-old Wicket.

“(Wicket’s) extremely outgoing,” she said. “Matilda on the other hand is very shy, so people time’s very important.”

Deer Park resident Cindy Shirrel brought her two dachshunds to the event but didn’t have them compete. At 13, Big Dog is too old, and at 10 months, Willow is too young, she said.

“She might be doing the wiener dog races next year,” Shirrel said.

Spokane resident Dee Brandt, who raises Chesapeake retrievers, pointed to a three-legged poodle as an example of why she loves Pet Fest.

“It just makes my heart warm,” she said, referring to the kindness of the dog’s owners. “For me, a dog is for life.”

That three-legged dog was Gracie, a two-year-old poodle Spokane resident Rebecca Hanley and her husband rescued from a shelter. Gracie’s broken leg had gone untreated for six months and required amputation, Hanley said.

“She’s really happy and she runs really, really fast,” Hanley told a boy who asked about the missing leg. “She’s just happy all the time.”

Gracie didn’t participate in any events. Like a lot of other dogs, she was there to observe and socialize, Hanley said.

Jasmine on the other hand was there to compete. The three-year-old black and brown dachshund won a wiener dog race and was preparing for the championship round. Her winning performance came during just her second race. Her first race in Pet Fest two years ago was memorable, but not because of a winning performance, owner Cheryl Stauffer said.

“The first time she ran right to the side,” she said.

Explained Stauffer’s daughter, 10-year-old Chloe Mapes, “My grandma and sister were holding food.”