Best in Show winner

There was no meowing and no hissing from cats and snakes this year, but there was plenty of dog fur entered in the Lehigh Acres Spring Festival’s Pet Show and the dogs seemed to enjoy the show as much as their owners.

The Pet Show, the first competition held in the nine-day Festival was held at the pavilion at the rear of the park on the pond. A panel of judges, including Dr. Carlos Gonzalez, his wife, Lisette, and Lori Jackson, the office manager of Gonzalez’s Lehigh practice, watched as dogs in three divisions little, medium, and large sized dogs paraded in front of them.

The event began at 1 p.m. and Liz Eilf was the emcee and the person responsible for the show.

After about an hour, the judges had made their decisions and the three dogs and their owners posed for pictures.

But of the three divisions, the Best in Show went to a little female Sheltie. And posing with their dog were Jalen Conteno and his half-brother, Damian Carpio, of Lehigh. They are the sons of Elizabeth Bentley.

Three top winners pose with their owners

Winners of the three classes included dogs by name. The names of the owners were not taken by pet show officials.

Large dogs: First Matty, Labrador; Second Carson, English Labrador; Third, Berkley, Choc Labrador.

Medium dogs: First, Neka, Sheltie; Second, Rudy, a Boxer; Third, Bridget, a Sheltie.

Small dogs: First, Angie, a Chihuahua; Second, Sweet Pie, a Maltese Mix; Third, Korki a Yorkshire.

The 35th annual Festival began Friday night and continued all day Saturday with music by Kalee Coyle, local bands including Opening Act. At 8 p.m., the big country concert was to feature Jeff Bates from Nashville.

Hey judges, look at me.

The show continues Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. with the Festival’s Baby and Toddler pageant.

Hundreds strolled through the Festival grounds on Friday with temperatures in the low 80s. Hundreds more were expected to turn out tonight for the free concert on the giant stage. Admission is free but parking is a couple of bucks and the Lehigh Acres Soccer League shares in the proceeds.

Liz Eilf speaks to the dog owners at the Lehigh Spring Festival's Pet Show on Saturday. She is the chairman of the Pet Show and several upcoming competitions this week. All photos by Mel Toadvine