Animal fair for pets, owners

Feeling a little overwhelmed with the new school schedules? This weekend, the Third Annual Susan Rae’s Animal Fair at the Spokane Fair and Expo Center could bring animal lovers just the break they need.

From ferrets to parrots, from ponies to puppies, to a two-headed corn snake and free Madagascar hissing cockroaches to the first 100 kids (parental permission required), the Animal Fair offers something for pet enthusiasts of all kinds.

This makes perfect sense as the event coordinator, Susan Rae, has always been crazy about animals. “I was always the kid that brought home a lost kitten or a hamster that someone didn’t want,” she said. “My parents are tremendous animal lovers. too.”

So for the third year Rae has used her professional talents to pull the animal fair together.

“I worked in television and radio for years, so when I left the radio station I combined all of my promotion and marketing skills to put together animal expos,” she said.

“It’s pretty obvious to me that people in our area have the same love for their animals as I do,” she added. That seems true, especially since this is the animal fair continues to grow.

“This year we are the most excited about Valentine’s performing pigs,” said Rae. “A really nice tie-in with the show is that the owner of the pigs, Priscilla Valentine, actually graduated from University High School. This is like coming home for her.”

Valentine’s two shows each day star Nellie, the “smartest pig in the world.”

Traci Selle, owner of Spokane’s Reptile Rescue has been involved in the two previous animal fairs, and she believes in the fair as a powerful educational tool for current and potential pet owners.

“I try and educate people so that they know what they are getting into before they get a reptile,” she said.

“Most people don’t realize how reptiles can change as they grow. For an example, a Burmese python, when it’s born, is 3-4 inches long. They have the capacity to grow up to 27 feet. The bigger they get, the more food they eat, the more space they need. So I try and teach people about that before they adopt. Other rescues work the same way.”

Rae added that other animal groups plan on teaching in a similar manner.

“The Lilac City Dog Training Club put on a Kids and Animals Safety Carnival,” she said. “Experts with different kinds of animals teach how to be a responsible owner for ferrets, dogs, cats, rats, snakes and birds. A lot of the kids have never seen or held or touched an animal. Here the expert supervises the child as they learn.

“In a 10-year time period I’ve taken in 1,700 animals,” Selle said. “We’ve adopted out about 1,500 animals. Reptiles have a high turn-in rate because people don’t do the research before they get one.”

Selle’s mother can testify to that.

“Mom says you never know what’s going to happen at my house,” said Selle. “Once Mom went into my bathroom when we first moved here and were getting the rescue going. She was pretty surprised when she found seven baby alligators in the bathtub.”

So, how does a person become interested in saving what most young girls think of as creepy crawly things?

“It’s kind of funny,” said Selle. “When I was younger, I was the girl you’d show a picture of a snake to and I’d go running in the other direction. But I wanted to be a veterinarian, and I told a friend who was a vet that I wanted to do the same thing. He said I should specialize, so eventually I got a degree in herpetology and use it to help animals and do something for our community as well.”

Susan Rae’s Animal Fair helps too.

“All the money from the silent auction and part of our proceeds from the entry fees goes to the animal shelters,” she said. “All of the adoption fees, of course, go to whatever rescue the animal comes from