Bloomington Parks and Recreation hosted its fourth annual Pet Expo in Switchyard Park Pavillon on March 8, bringing community members together from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to celebrate all things pets.
Booths featuring everything from pet pastries to custom snake enclosures lined the pavilion as community members browsed tables, asked questions to experts and connected with other animal lovers.
Bill Ream, the community events coordinator for Bloomington Parks and Recreation, organized the event and contacted local vendors selling an array of pet supplies and services, bringing more than 20booths to the expo.
“It helps pet owners, and it also helps a lot of these small businesses,” Ream said. “This may not be their full-time job. They might have a full-time job and then make pet clothes on weekends and go to craft fairs and things. This gives them an opportunity to boost their business, have some fun and meet a lot of pet owners.”
Emily Dalton, a Bloomington resident who attended the expo, said the event is a convenient way for pet owners to find services such as grooming or products that work best for their families and animals.
“I think it's a good place to get everything together at once, with options, too,” Dalton said. “It’s an opportunity to shop around all at once while saving time by doing it all in the same day.”
Dalton said the expo allows her to speak directly with vendors, such as dog groomers, and find the right fit for her dog. Instead of calling multiple groomers separately, the expo allows her to talk with several in one place and decide which option works best.
The expo featured a variety of organizations and vendors highlighting different types of pets and animal care, offering something for everyone.
Arthur Han, an employee from Cheeky Wheekies Guinea Pig Rescue, said the event helps introduce people to less typical pets that may better fit their households than cats or dogs, such as guinea pigs, and highlights the wide range of ways people care for their animals.
“I think it's just cool to see the diversity and variety of the things that people make for their animals and want to do for their animals,” Han said. “It just brings people together with the connection of loving animals in general, even if there are different kinds.”
Some booths focused on adoption and animal welfare, including The City of Bloomington Animal Shelter and the Monroe County Humane Association, which provided community members with information on adoptions, low-cost pet healthcare, pet food banks and housing resources.
Marissa Parr-Scott, program specialist for the Community & Family Resources Department at MCHA, said the event gave residents a chance to see the range of services city-run organizations offer to support animals within the community.
“We just like to let people know what’s available at MCHA because sometimes they don’t know,” Parr-Scott said. “They like to say that animal control creates families, and then MCHA helps keep them together and keep everyone happy and healthy.”
