L.A. County shelter animals will get a second chance at finding a forever home while pet lovers enjoy family-friendly fun at the eighth annual Bow-Wows & Meows Pet Fair on Sunday, Oct. 12, at Hart Park in Newhall.

The 2007 Bow-Wows & Meows Pet Fair drew thousands of attendees from all over Los Angeles County and resulted in the adoption of more than 100 dogs and cats from local shelters.

"Last year was a little scary because of the tunnel fire on the same weekend, but we not only ended up with record attendance, we adopted out almost all the animals at the fair that day," said Yvonne Allbee, founder and president of Bow-Wows & Meows.

Whether attendees are looking to adopt a pet or not, Bow-Wows & Meows provides a great activity for the whole family! Free to the public, popular events at Bow-Wows & Meows include:

In addition, Bow-Wows & Meows offers Kids Zone rides, tasty people food, exciting raffles, and giveaways galore.

All proceeds from the event go directly to Bow-Wows & Meows, a Valencia-based 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization whose missionis "through education, awareness and inspiration, we will one day have more loving homes than homeless pets."

"Bow-Wows & Meows was created in the hopes that people in the community would be willing to adopt a shelter animal if they knew how many great pets needed a good home," Allbee said. "We are so proud to have adopted out over six hundred animals since we started in 2001. I cry tears of joy every time I see the shelter trucks leaving empty after the fair."

The Bow-Wows & Meows Pet Fair will be held from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 12 at William S. Hart Park, 24151 N. San Fernando Road, Newhall.

For more information, visit www.bowwowsandmeows.org or call 661-297-5961.