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Meet Seattle Animal Shelter’s critters at Creeptacular, Saturday, Oct. 28

Terry the Tarantula is just one of the many critters that SAS has cared and found homes for. Meet available critters at Creeptacular!

by Erin Berge

The Seattle Animal Shelter will host its first Creeptacular event on Saturday, Oct. 28, from noon-3 p.m., featuring all available critters ready for adoption and spooky guests.

The event will include a photo booth with costume options as well as participation by the Washington Ferret Rescue and Shelter, the Northwest Hepatology group and a fleet of white guinea pigs. Guests will be able to hand-feed the critters with greens and berries, said Interim Volunteer Supervisor Laura Mundy.

“Creeptacular will bring much-needed attention to the variety of animals available for adoption at SAS and how different critters have very distinct and different needs,” said Mundy.

While many people think “dogs and cats” when it comes to adopting animals, not everyone realizes there are so many more choices at the Seattle Animal Shelter. SAS’ critter room houses animals like rabbits, turtles, guinea pigs and mice. And back in January 2017, SAS briefly cared for Terry – a tarantula!

Critter team volunteer Ellen Gawryla was amazed by the spider’s mellow-nature.

“He had the lightest little footsteps, and you could just kind of hold him,” said Gawryla.

When SAS created Terry’s online adoption profile, unfortunately there was no category option for “tarantula” or “spider.” Having a bit of fun, SAS instead categorized Terry as a llama, noting in his description that he was, in fact, a spider. And the fun continued on social media.

Sam Miller adopted Terry after he spent a month as Terry the llama.

“He’s just cool. I can watch him grow and move,” said Miller.

According to Miller, attention must be paid to Terry’s environment. Feeding him only two to three crickets a week, Miller controls the temperature and moisture level for Terry’s home to keep the spider happy. Although Terry was used to being handled at SAS before adoption, Miller does not force him to crawl around, since the spider’s exterior is extremely fragile.

Miller enjoys watching Terry make spider webs.

“When he makes his webs, he thinks he’s dancing,” said Miller. “He’s just a cool pet.”

The Creeptacular event is a great time to visit SAS and the critter room, which features a large variety of pets available for adoption.

“You may even spot a guinea pig in a costume if you’re lucky!” said Mundy.

The Seattle Animal Shelter, located at 2061 15th Ave. W., is open from noon to 6 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday, for adoptions and licensing. For more information, call 206-386-PETS (7387) or visit www.seattleanimalshelter.org.