Dog lovers unite! The 7th Annual Nuts for Mutts Dog Show and Pet Fair promises to titillate you dearest doggy dreams, with something for everyone. The show returns to Shepard Stadium at Pierce College, 6201 Winnetka Ave., Woodland Hills on Sunday, June 1, featuring something for every member of the family. Highlights include a howl-larious mixed breed dog show, a pet fair, pet adoptions, vendors selling everything from healthy dog treats to fashionable pet carriers, great food, live music, a silent auction, a kid’s corner and more, all benefiting nonprofit animal rescue organization, New Leash on Life.
Since its inception in 2001, Nuts for Mutts has grown by leaps and bounds to an annual attendance of 10,000 dog lovers. This year, over 400 canines are expected to strut their stuff before a panel of celebrity judges in such categories as “Fastest Mutt,’ “Most Ear-resistible Ears” and “Best Kisser” leading up to the prestigious “Best in Show”. For the first time, four pure bred categories have been added so that rescued pedigrees can compete with their mixed breed buddies.
Celebrities have always been a big part of Nuts for Mutts, and this year is no exception. Co-emcees Debra Wilson Skelton (MADtv) and Nicole Sullivan (MADtv) join celebrity judges Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men), Mary Lynn Rajskub (24), Michelle Stafford (The Young and the Restless), Zoe Saldana (Vantage Point), Ian Sommerhalder (Lost), Galen Gering (Passions), Kelly McCarty (Passions), Keegan Michael (The Planet’s Funniest Animals), Richard Blade (Sirius Radio), Samantha Mathis (Broken Arrow), Lisa Joyner (TV Guide Network), Kimberly Caldwell (American Idol/TV Guide Network), Madison Michele (TV Guide Network), Jillian Clare (Miss Behave), Brett Delbuono (The Cleaner), Kamen Rider (Dragon Knight) and more to come.
Founded in 1997, New Leash On Life has been responsible for spaying and neutering thousands of pets, rescuing and placing over 3,000 dogs, providing free educational seminars at local shelters, setting shelter rescue priorities on “hard to place” animals requiring medical or special care, founding the P.E.T.’s program (Pet Educational Trainers) and co-founding Partners for Life which saved hundreds at the East Valley Animal Shelter.
Event sponsors include Castor & Pollux Pet Works and Dog’s Life Magazine. Show hours are 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Tickets to Nuts for Mutts are available in advance online at (www.nutsformutts.org) or at the door for $10 for adults, $5 for children 3 – 12 with children under 3 admitted free. Dogs are $5. To register your dog in the competition, visit the Nuts for Mutts website and sign up before 12 noon on Friday, May 30. Plenty of free and paid parking is available. For more information, visit www.nutsformutts.org or call (661) 255-0097.
