Dogs, cats, ferrets - many of them decked out in colorful and unusual outfits - were all part of a Pet Show at the Scioto County Fair on Tuesday.

Hunter Gampp, 6, son of Amy and Barry Gampp, of Minford, showed off his little gray kitten with a Harley Davidson theme.

Harley is his kitten's name. Gampp wore Harley boots, Harley T-shirt topped off with a Harley skull cap.

Last year he competed in the Kiddie Tractor Pull and went to state competition.

“I'm proud of him,” said his Aunt Shelia Blevins, of Minford. “He's kind of a seasoned fairgoer, even though he's starting first grade this fall.”

Gampp and his father have been camping out at the fair since Sunday.

“We had cats, dogs, rodents, rabbits and there was a ferret,” said Frank Pertuset, Fair Board member. “They dressed up pretty neat, pioneers, nurses and one had a wagon with a jail on it. It was real neat. Every child had a ribbon that participated in it.”

Each child has to show the animal without parents' help.

The categories were best cat, best dog, most unusual, best rodent and best dressed. First and second place also received a trophy and third place received a rosette.

“(This year) I think we had more animals,” said Joe Ramsey, Fair Board member. “We had more dogs than anything.”

David and Lynn Harting, of Lucasville, had several children participating in the fair with different projects and three were in the pet show.

The Harting children dressed up in Indian costumes. J.D., 9, helped his sister, Faith, 3, carry her 23-pound cat. Five-year-old Simon had a kitten in the show.

“This is a tradition,” David Harting said. “The boy who won first place had a prisoner's outfit on and he had a wagon that said ‘jail' on it and he had birds in a jail. It was really cute. He did a good job with that.”

Another boy wore a camouflage outfit with a shotgun on his back and his hunting dog was dressed with a camouflage outfit on.

“It's great to get the kids involved that aren't in 4-H yet and they can't show the animals,” David Harting said. “It gets them interested in doing things.”

Lynn Harting has been doing pet shows for about 35 years.

“They were all dressed as Indians, and (also) two cats and a dog dressed as Indians,” she said. “It was fun. My family's been involved in the fair for generations. Both of my grandfathers were on the Fair Board. Everybody was involved in the fair.”

She had lambs, horses and steers when she was in 4-H, she said. Jessica, the oldest daughter who is 12, has a lamb and J.D. has a pig to show at the fair this week.

Leanne Fuhrmann had two of her 7-year-old triplets show their rabbits in the pet show.

“They competed against each other,” Fuhrmann said.

Her daughter, Melanie, had a baby rabbit in the show and Jeremy entered a dwarf Netherland rabbit in the show, winning second place in best rodent.

The triplets are in Cloverbuds in their second year.

“That is what the Cloverbuds do because it's something they can do at the fair,” Fuhrmann said. “It gives them a little bit of the feeling that they can be like their bigger brothers and sisters.”

For best cat, winners were Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis, first place, Haleigh Buckler, second place, J.D. and Faith Harting, third place.

For best dog, winners were Abby Grasso, first place, Taylor Martin, second place and Michaela and Connor Webb, third place.

Most unusual pet winners were Sarah Blackburn, first place, Annie Davis, second place and Zac Hammond, third place.

Best rodent winners were Katie Argueta, first place, Jeremy Fuhrmann, second place and Kristin Hewet, third place.

Best dressed winners were Zac Hammond, first place, Braiden Haney, second place and Simon Davis, third place.

PHYLLIS NOAH can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 234, or pnoahpdt@yahoo.com.