Cat lovers had a chance to meet famous felines, shop for cat-themed merchandise and watch adoptable kittens play at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletown on Sunday during Vancouver鈥檚 first-ever Meowfest.
Fans got a chance to pet Instagram-famous cats including Nala, Luna Rose, Pudge, BenBen and Klaus.
This was the first large public event for New West cat BenBen and 鈥渃at-Dad鈥� Adam Tutt says BenBen is doing great but 鈥渉e needs a break every once in awhile 鈥� any cat would.鈥�
BenBen was found by a BC SPCA officer a few years back with a number of health issues and was deemed unadoptable. The 鈥榮addest cat on the internet鈥� was one day away from being euthanized when he was rescued. Sandy Windover, a veterinary technician at the 麻豆传媒映画Animal Emergency and Referral Centre and her partner Adam Tutt adopted BenBen.
鈥淲e鈥檙e big advocates for the adopt-don鈥檛-shop movement. If you want a pet look at your local shelter first before going out to a pet store and buying one,鈥� Tutt says.
The New Westminster Animal Shelter and Langley Animal Protection Society had rooms full of adoptable kittens for attendees to meet.
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The New Westminster Animal Shelter cuddle room at Meowfest
鈥� Melissa Shaw (@Melissa_Shaw22)
Margie Fox, who works at the New West shelter, says they had 13 kittens in the cuddle room. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really a lot of fun for them. They get to run around, play, meet lots of people 鈥� it鈥檚 really good socializing for them and hopefully they will meet somebody who wants to adopt them.鈥�
Fox says they currently have about 40 cats in their care with some in foster homes and others at the shelter.
The sold-out event was organized by a Vancouver-based company called Meowbox, which offers delivery boxes of cats treats and toys on a monthly or bi-monthly basis to subscribers. Proceeds from all ticket sales for Meowfest are being donated to the BC SPCA.
鈥淲e鈥檙e so excited about the turnout. We did not anticipate such a huge demand but doing something like this for such a great cause and receiving so much attention is just so positive. We couldn鈥檛 be happier,鈥� says Sarita Fichtner, Meowbox community manager.
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