Calling All Pet Owners Past and Present

Next summer 2009, your pet could be featured in a Montgomery County Historical Society exhibit entitled The Other Member of the Family: Montgomery County Pets. If you have old pictures, new pictures, or items used to care for a pet, you can help MCHS demonstrate how our relationships with our pets has transformed over the years. Pets and companion animals are always special, but the kinds of pets we keep and how we interact with them is always changing.

Guidelines from MCHS:

Send your favorite pet photo, and a brief description or story. We want any type of pet, but they must be Montgomery County pets. Whenever possible, images will be scanned so that originals can be returned immediately. If you think you have an artifact to lend - an old dog leash, water dish, cat sweater, birdcage or hamster ball (to name a few possibilities) - please make sure it’s clean, and that you won’t need it for your current pet for the duration of the exhibit. To offer something for the exhibit, contact Joanna Church at 301-340-2825 or [email protected].

I happen to know that the Animal Exchange is loaning the antique bird cages which line the walls of the store. What do you have to share?

We’re hoping our leopard gecko will be a star of the exhibit and this all has me wondering, did people keep lizards as pets when Rockville was named in 1801? I guess I’ll find out.

Picture from MCHS photo collection, donated by Alexander Casanges.