Pets celebrated at bazaar

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. LuCelia Ball
  • 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Pet owners braved the heat May 5 to attend the annual Pet Bazaar at the base exchange. 

The day started out with a 1.5-mile pet walk/run on the commissary trail with plenty of watering stations offered along the route. 

The walkers arrived back to the parking lot to the sounds of music and laughter as children took advantage of an inflatable playground. 

While mostly dog owners attended, Airman Christina McPheters brought Bobbin, a 7-month old cat who is leash-trained. 

"He's really excited to be around all of the other animals," she said. 

Also on display were two adoptable dogs from Eglin Pet Welfare and two show cats who were adopted from the shelter, one of which has won regional awards with the International Cat Association. 

Jelly Bean, a Siamese mix cat, was rescued from a kill shelter as a kitten. She arrived with a severe broken leg and went home as a foster pet with Denise Schuster, a volunteer. 

"I fell in love with him and adopted him," she said. Jelly Bean has won 11 ribbons so far in the household pet kitten category. Next year, he will old enough to be entered in the household pet cat category. 

"He's our ambassador for pet welfare," Ms. Schuster said. "He went from a throw-away kitten to a regional winner." 

Also on hand were volunteers from the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 566, who are working to raise money for a military working dog memorial. The planned monument is to honor the dogs and their handlers in their role of protecting military members in both battle and peacetime. 

After a demonstration of the military working dogs, representatives from the Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge showed off some of their educational animals, two owls named Bub and April, who were hit separately by cars and suffered damaged wings. 

The purpose of the refuge is to take in orphaned or injured wild animals and work to rehabilitate them back into the wild. Some, like the two owls, are too damaged to go back into the wild, so they are kept on hand as educational animals. The refuge regularly travels to speak to the public about Florida wildlife. 

After meeting the owls, people got a chance to meet McGruff the Crime Dog and Sparky the Fire Dog. 

Many pet owners entered their pets in several contest sponsored by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. Categories included cutest pet, pet and owner look-alike, best costume and best trick. Prizes included ribbons, pet bowls, AAFES gift certificates, pet hair rollers and various pet toys. 

Why so much fuss over pets? 

First-time attendee Theresa Hinds, an AAFES employee and owner of six dogs, summed it up. 

"We come to honor our pets and what they do for us," she said. "Their personalities make us feel better."