The Long Island Pet Expo is set to return to the Suffolk Federal Credit Union Arena on Saturday, March 1, and Sunday, March 2, offering a weekend of family-friendly activities and animal entertainment.
Sponsored by Family Pet Shows, the expo offers animal-centric entertainment, including a rabbit-hopping agility course, Diana Frohman and her Beautiful Dancing Dogs, and TICA Championship Cat Shows.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Free parking is available at Suffolk County Community College Grant Campus, located at 1001 Crooked Hill Road in Brentwood.
Tickets are $20 at the door and $15 online, with discounted prices for seniors, military members, and children. Kids under 3 are admitted free, according to the website.
For Dennis Garetano of Huntington, who has been organizing the expo for many years, there’s nothing like the smile it puts on a child’s face.
“When they see the animals, they light up,” Garetano told South Shore Press. “And to me that’s one of the things that makes it all worthwhile.”
Garetano’s enthusiasm for the expo is shared by his wife, Karen, and son, Joe, as reflected in the name Family Pet Shows. He describes Karen as a lifelong "dog person" who has showcased her springer spaniels at Madison Square Garden.
Pet owners don’t need a show dog to attend the expo—dogs must simply be leashed and well-behaved. In fact, Garetano said the event welcomes a variety of pets, not just dogs. Past attendees have brought birds, cats, snakes, and even a zebra, he noted.
The expo is expected to attract around 10,000 visitors, with about 1,000 bringing their pets along. For these attendees, the Zenos Dog Run Lure Course offers a fun-filled opportunity to test their dogs’ agility skills.
Other attractions include Gail Mirabella and the Dynamo Dogs, a Schutzhund demonstration by Maximum K9 Services, Rainforest Reptiles Shows, Birds of Prey with Sweetbriar Nature Center, and, new this year, Parties by Parrots.
While the focus is now on dogs, cats, and other household pets, the expo originally began in 1994 as a horse event. Two years later, it expanded to include both horses and pets, but as the event grew, the horse section became too difficult to set up, Garetano recalled.
“We used to publish a horse magazine, and then we used to work with the Hampton Classic,” he explained. “It started as a horse expo in Pennsylvania and then just every horse owner has another pet. So, we added the pets and eventually did just that.”
The pet expo also aims to give back to the animal community by promoting adoption through participating rescues and encouraging donations of both human and pet food to support Long Island Cares’ Harry Chapin Food Bank and Baxter’s Pet Pantry.
To save money, Garetano recommends purchasing tickets in advance. “People can buy their tickets online and save a good amount of money,” he said.