15th September 2018

The sun was twinkling over the water of the Thames as we arrived at The Excel Centre for one of our favourite spring events. Two exciting days presenting our team of birds and beasts at The London Pet Show. ExCel was a hive of activity on Friday evening, with a countless number of fluorescent jacketed supermen and women dashing around to make sure the venue was public-ready for the morning. Then, from the moment the doors opened at 10am, visitors upon visitors piled in to enjoy a taste of creature-heaven. Exhibition stands stretched out across the great hall, and a bustle of excited chatter as families arrived and enjoyed new things was constant through the day.

The weekend was filled with a fantastic array of animals of all shapes and sizes, from tiny beetles to Bald Eagles… and some literally bald creatures too, like Sphinx Cats and Mexican Hairless Dogs! Even ponies, pigs and llamas made an appearance, and the variety of animal breeds on show was fascinating to see. With other stands exhibiting merchandise including grooming products, foods and toys, the ‘stand with the best name’ award had to go to ‘The Dog Poo Wormery’. And yes, that’s exactly what you think it is.

We took along a fantastic team of birds including Caius the Bald Eagle, Elsa the Bengal Eagle Owl and Pickle the Peregrine Falcon. As ever, Maggie the Hooded Vulture was a great ambassador for us to have the opportunity to talk about the plight of endangered vultures in the wild. With four shows each day combining birds and beasts, Neville Longbottom the Bearded Dragon also made a star appearance, and so did Rosie, our 10 foot long Albino Burmese Python.

It’s always great to have people visit for a chat and go away more informed and aware than they were before they came. And we loved the action and thrill of the live shows.

Unpredictable as always, but that’s part of the fun! The two days flew by (pun alert) and before we knew it, it was time to pack down and get back on the road to go home. The hall was emptying as we left, all the animals gone, except one. A single feral pigeon remained, skimming around, swooping over the rafters, flashes of metallic green on his neck catching the light as he passed overhead. He’d been with us all through the show, taking it all in with his bird’s eye view. We stopped for a moment to ponder what he might be thinking…and decided it would be total relief. He’d probably never come across so many predators in one place before! Wonder if he’ll still be there next year…