Pet Expo brings home the needs of furry friends

March 31, 2012 at 5:30p.m.

NILES

If there is an overriding theme of this weekend’s Northeast Ohio Pet Expo Show, it’s probably this: Animals need your help.

“You can find your best friend here,” said Judi Henninger, show coordinator.

Organizations dedicated to animal rescue, foster care and adoption are prominent among the 50 vendors at the Eastwood Expo Center show, which continues today. Nearly all brought dogs and cats available for adoption.

For example, there is the litter of nine Rottweiler, Shar Pei and Border Collie-mix puppies abandoned at a Youngstown church three weeks ago when they were just four weeks old. The puppies were saved thanks to New Lease on Life, a Struthers volunteer organization that rescues dogs and cats from euthanasia at shelters. The nine drew the attention of crowds as they played in a large cage by the group’s booth.

“We named each one of them after an angel because they were found at the church,” said Darla Donahue of Struthers, one of the group’s volunteers. Donahue said the puppies have to stay in foster care for several more weeks before they will be available for adoption.

Then there is Misty, a 4-year old Australian Shepherd with one blue eye and one brown eye, now under foster care at Animal Charity of Youngstown. “She was abused and neglected, but we can’t put her up for adoption yet because of issues with her owners,” said Shalyse Bolash, a volunteer. Bolash said Animal Charity needs people willing to help provide the animals with foster care.

Read more in Sunday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com. Woof.