CLIVE, Iowa — Sunday marked the end of the second Great Iowa Pet Fest, a celebration of pets and pet people.
The festival was born during the pandemic and brings together pet owners, vendors, adoption agencies—and all kinds of four-legged friends.
Ten-year-old Rex brought her rats, "Naked" and "Meatball."
Another pet-lover, Lisa Brincks came with her dog "Yukon" who loves to lounge around.
The festival was also an opportunity for potential pet owners to meet with adoption agencies. Audrey Stamps, who works with AHeinz57 Pet Rescue and Transport out of De Soto, says there's a high demand for adoption, especially as more people are going back to work.
"That's been hard for some of them kind of adjusting from having someone there all the time to going six, eight plus hours without anybody home," Stamps said.
She said this means some owners are realizing they can't take care of their pets the way they could during lockdown.
"So we're getting lots of return requests—and not just our rescue but lots of rescues," Stamps said.
AHeinz57 was one of several animal rescue groups at the festival. If you're interested in adopting, you can find information about all of the rescues here.
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