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Exotic animals thrill Pet Expo crowd

Attendees meet ball python, new K-9, other animals at event

Photo for the Mirror by Mikayla Loudenslager Charlotte Karwowski, 4, and her brother, Owen, 7, of Charlotte, N.C., get a closer look at an American alligator held by Dirk Voories of Altoona during the Central Pennsylvania Pet Expo on Sunday at the Blair County Convention Center.

It took some cajoling for some of the kids lined up Sunday to dare pet the slithering ball python wrapped around Lou Campanaro’s arm.

But pet it they did — even if one or two shouted “no!” before they tried.

Campanaro, of Altoona-based Cold Blooded and Co., was one of the many vendors lining the walls at the Blair County Convention Center on Sunday afternoon for the eighth annual Central PA Pets Expo. Families and animal enthusiasts filled the center to buy products, look at exotic animals and pet the leashed dogs who seemed to wander everywhere.

Scores of onlookers watched the center ring as Rik, a new K-9 working for the Blair County Sheriff’s Department, lunged at a deputy in a suit of thick padding. A Belgian Malinois who worked in Afghanistan before returning to the U.S. for police work, Rik drew applause as his handlers demonstrated his training.

There were cute and cuddly animals like Daisy Mae, the 10-year-old Shetland sheepdog who eagerly accepted pets in her orange Halloween scarf. And there were odd ones, like the lounging snake that had formed into a near-perfect square to fully occupy its box.

For some, though, the expo was a chance to introduce familiar animals in a more personal way.

“These are animals that people don’t typically see up close and personal,” said Robyn Graboski, executive director at Port Matilda-based Centre Wildlife Care, as a regal-looking red-tailed hawk peered from behind her.

Like all the wildlife at Graboski’s display, the hawk was disabled — blind in one eye, in this case. While the organization often rehabilitates animals to be released or sent elsewhere, those with disabilities are kept and used to educate the public.

Guests looked eagerly at turtles, bats and a skunk in the Centre Wildlife Care cases. They’re animals most Pennsylvanians wouldn’t see much of day-to-day, even though they live all around us.

And when visitors see the animals up close, it helps them remember there are people out there caring for them, Graboski said.

“When they see you in person, it creates a little legitimacy to what you’re doing,” she said.

Mirror Staff Writer Ryan Brown is at 946-7457.

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