Mostly good news with a hint of sadness

I'll get the bad news over with: Gibbs the dwarf hamster has passed away. You may recall that he was one of the hamsters with a lot of medical issues. We believe that his body just couldn't take it any more and that he passed peacefully. His brothers, McGee and DiNozzo, have healed, however, and are in good condition. They are up for adoption.

Speaking of adoptions, Saturday's expo was a great success. There were a huge number of people that stopped over at the Small Pets-Big Hearts table, both people from other organizations, and people just interested in finding out more about us. I'll post more information as it gets sorted.

We had Charlie the ferret, Pepper the angora, Kirby, Marvin, and Norman the guinea pigs, Olivia and Casey the gerbils, and Goldie, Katie, and Pocahontas the dwarf hamsters at the convention to give people an idea of the animals we have up for adoption. We also had Lilly the rat there as a success story. Norman was brought on stage by a woman who was demonstrating clicker-training, and he brought a lot of attention our way. In addition, Lilly helped attract a lot of different people. She brought over people who liked rats and gave us the opportunity to find people who thought rats were "gross" or "mean" and change their minds.

Thanks to everyone's efforts and the adorableness of all of the animals, Norman the guinea pig has been adopted, as have Emma and Tessa the dwarf hamsters. Adoptions are pending for Lilly's sisters (all 4!) and her (neutered) brother Zack as well as for Gormy the rat.

So all we can say is "THANKS!" to all of the people (and animals!) who helped out with the expo. Since Rachel was ill, she couldn't make it, but with Ray's help and the help of a few volunteers, things went over very well. Keep spreading the word and getting people to adopt rather than buy. The more animals get adopted, the more animals we can get and place in loving homes. :)