Thousands of animal lovers enjoy exotic pet and bird fair

JACKSON, Tenn. — This weekend the Jackson Fairgrounds resembled a petting zoo as kids and the kids at heart enjoyed seeing exotic pets and birds that landed in Jackson. At the Country Feathers exotic bird fair, cage birds weren’t the only animals making noise.

“There’s a lot of stuff here that I actually didn’t think they would have,” animal lover Terina Christian said. “I’ve seen pretty much everything from monkeys, snakes, spiders, baby pigs, the whole nine yards it’s here.”

With the exotic animals back in town, people came to shop for pets, toys and enjoy time as a family.

“We love birds we love animals,” bird owner  Judy Vestal said. “We just wanted to see what kind of birds they had. And they got some beautiful birds.”

“My grandparents were coming down and they told me to meet them here,” Tristen Armour said as he enjoyed to expo. “Spending time with the family.”

Customers say having the opportunity to see such a variety of birds, dogs, monkeys and rabbits all in one place was worth the trip.

“I’ve had a good time, I’m glad we came out here,” Christian said. “Actually I’ve always wanted to see baby pigs, hold a snake. I got to do all that today.”

“So many different breeds of everything that you didn’t even know was out there,” Vestal said. “So makes you more knowledgeable about things.”

Although most most animals were for sale, the vendors had no problem with the little ones touching the animals.

“Wanted him to see the birds, have a good time,” Armour said. “Defiantly think its a great place for the kids to come. I think it’s a really cool thing. All these birds and monkeys. I think its really great.”

The bird fair organizers say some vendors sold out of merchandise on the first day and nearly 6,000 people attended this weekends show. If you missed the exotic bird and pet fair, mark your calendar for next year. The fair will back in Jackson February 19th and 20th of 2017.