Taipei's annual Pet Expo was held this year at Nangang Exhibition Center - not sure if this year kicked of with a "parade of 100 poodles" as last year's did, because I didn't make it until Sunday, but the pet expo (along with the travel and book expos - but not Computex, not yet) are my favorite annual expo events in Taiwan. And by "favorite" I mean "the only ones I go to".
I don't have much to say about the pet expo - except that if you have a pet and are looking to pick up some discount goods, or just want to take friendly Fido out for a fun day sniffing other dogs' butts, it's worthwhile. We have our cat, Stupidface (just kidding, his name is 招財) and did want to price new carriers and buy him a longer-lasting scratch pad that wouldn't leave cardboard bits all over the floor, and were successful (although we didn't buy a carrier - the one we wanted wasn't actually for sale that day). It's also a good chance to drop by Animals Taiwan's booth and donate, or any of the other rescue organizations there.
The expo mostly has booths catering to dogs, but people did bring other pets - cats, rabbits, gerbils, guinea pigs, a sable (pictured below) - I don't know how they got their cats to tolerate it. Our Stupidface would have freaked out in that sort of setting, so we left him at home. He freaks out on the short walk to the vet's office.
And, of course, many of the dogs are either ridiculously gussied up (above), or preternaturally cute (below).
I got tickets for free because one of my corporate clients is Merial, a manufacturer of animal medicines, and they gave me two free entry passes. I stopped by to say hi, saw the showgirls, browsed, petted cute animals, bought a wooden cat scratch pad, and took photos.
Seriously, none of the cats we saw looked even remotely happy. The dogs were, however, delighted to be there.
It was extremely crowded - actual traffic jams, not unlike Computex, made it hard to get around (plus all the dogs underfoot). I also found it hard, as it usually is. to take good photos of animals who aren't necessarily interested in cooperating - especially when I am the least interesting thing in their field of vision.
Even the pet expo has booth babes - these ladies worked for my client's booth.
Adorable sleeping sable. I was all "I could make a coat out of you!!" and the owner was all "Nooo!"
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