‘Dalmatians’ star helps promote pet adoptions

Karen Zekan

Friday, March 14, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Freckles, the lead dog in Walt Disney's "101 Dalmatians," will be making a special appearance this weekend along with dogs and cats awaiting adoption and exotic birds showing off their beauty as PETsMART opens its new northwest Las Vegas store.

City Councilman Matthew Callister will officially cut the ribbon at 9 a.m. Saturday during the ceremony opening the store at 2140 N. Rainbow Blvd., near Lake Mead Boulevard, in the Best in the West Shopping Center.

Festivities will include musical performances by local high school students, product giveaways, face painting, and the chance for pet owners to make pins of their pets. Both owners and pets are invited to attend.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Joe Krathwohl -- "The Birdman of Las Vegas" -- will show his exotic birds and birds of prey and answer questions.

From noon to 3 p.m., people can pet and pose for pictures with Freckles, who played Pongo in Disney's famous Dalmatian tale.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., volunteers from the Animal Foundation will be on hand to launch the store's innovative "Luv A Pet" adoption center, which provides local shelters a new, high-traffic location to match pets with owners.

The new kennel space can hold about 15 animals. Foundation members will have with them plenty of dogs and cats needing homes, each of them groomed and decked out in bows and bandanas.

PETsMART's adoption program helped find homes last year for more than 120,000 animals nationally. The store sells fish, reptiles and birds, but no dogs or cats.

"We attribute much of our huge increase in adoptions to PETsMART's involvement," said Mary Herro, Animal Foundation president.

"So many people want to adopt but don't go to the pound because of the heartache of seeing so many animals needing homes," Herro said. "This way, they get a chance to see the animals up close in an up-beat environment. At the same time, we're able to reach residents of the northwest who might not otherwise make it to the Foundation."

The story behind Freckles, a 4-year-old Dalmatian, is uniquely appropriate for this weekend's event: He, too, was rescued from a shelter.

"We had gone over to England three months before filming to find dogs and start training," said Mark Forbes, Freckles' trainer. "He turned out to be great. He was the main stunt dog for many of the scenes, did a lot of the running, the snarling. We liked him so much, we brought him home with us."

Forbes, an animal trainer for the past 11 years, has worked with dogs, cats, chimpanzees and orangutans, as well as dolphins and sea lions at the Knott's Berry Farm amusement park.

His "students" include those in the movie "Homeward Bound II" and Dreyfus for the television show "Empty Nest."

Freckles' movie credits include "The Truman Show" starring Jim Carrey, and "The Pretender."

"The Dalmatian is an interesting breed," Forbes said. "I'd heard horror stories -- that they are stupid and hard to control. They definitely aren't stupid. They are very active, need lots of stimulus, and are a high-maintenance dog. But they love to please. That's what is great about working with dogs."