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Straight from the Boss!: Annual Pets Expo features Shorty Rossi and a whole lot more

Courtesy photo / Shorty Rossi, “The Pit Boss,” will hold a special presentation at the Central PA Pets Expo. Admission to the expo and to Rossi’s presentation is $25.

In its eighth year, the Central PA Pet Expo promises to be better than ever.

While there will be plenty of animal-related entertainment, the main goal of the exhibition is to educate people on how to be the best pet owners they can be, says show director Amy Hanna-Eckenrode. To provide this knowledge, vendors include veterinarians, trainers and experts in nutrition and other pet products.

The schedule of events also looks to be educational, as well as entertaining. The Altoona Area Kennel Association, which has been an expo partner since the first year, will present a “Meet the Breeds” showcase, where visitors will have the opportunity to learn about and watch numerous dog breeds in action.

Centre Wildlife Care will offer a seminar that focuses on wild animals, particularly those that might be sick or injured, their rehabilitation and how they should be treated.

Also present will be the Flying Houndz Frizbee Trick Team, Heaven Scent Bloodhound Search and Rescue Team and Rik, the newest addition to the Blair County Sherif’s Department’s K9 unit.

However, the main event is a lecture given by Animal Planet’s “Pit Boss,” Shorty Rossi.

Though “Pit Boss” first aired in 2009, Rossi has been rescuing pit bulls since 2001. However, he credits the show with setting the format for his tour and helping to raise awareness about animal rescue and the truth about pit bulls — that being that the image of them as vicious, snarling beasts is largely embedded in myth.

The initial purpose of his rescue organization, Shorty’s Pit Bull Rescue, was to come to the aid of pit bulls in need, train and rehabilitate them and ultimately ensure that they found a loving home.

Now their main mission is to raise awareness about not just pit bulls but bully breeds as a whole and to dispel the negative misconceptions that too many individuals seem to have.

“No dog is born bad,” Rossi said. “If they are, it’s typically the fault of the owner. A bad owner equals a bad dog.”

He went on to explain that, more often than not, this behavior occurs because dogs have been improperly trained, housed in the wrong environment or treated with abuse.

Rossi said that he has more or less been touring nonstop since 2011, but he said there is nothing else that he would rather do. His speaking tours educate people about bully breeds, combat breed specific legislation (BSL), fight for animal rights and promote the importance of adoption, volunteering and spaying and neutering one’s pets.

Not only that, but several of his dogs often accompany him, disproving the stereotype that pit bulls are aggressive by allowing people to see how well behaved they can be even in rather unusual settings such as airports, hotel lobbies and lecture halls.

Rossi, dogs in tow, will be speaking at 4:30 p.m. at the expo.

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If you go

What: 8th Annual Central PA Pet Expo

When: Noon to 4 p.m. Sunday

Where: Blair County Convention Center

Admission: $5 per person, parking is free

Events: Schedule at www.centralpapetexpo.com

Special guest: Shorty Rossi, The Pit Boss! $25 for admission to the Pet Expo all day and then entrance to a special presentation with Shorty Rossi, The Pit Boss! He will be speaking about Breed Specific Legislation, spay and neuter, rescues/shelters, and much more! Meet him after his seminar and get an autograph and picture with Shorty

Ticket information: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3050671

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