Celebrity cat and dog impersonators visit Porterville

In collaboration for the premiere of the movie “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore,” which opens today at the Porterville Galaxy 9 Theater, the Porterville Animal Rescue Team — PART — will be on hand to share a few Super Hero stories of their own. In addition, two celebrity cat and dog impersonators — courtesy of Debbie’s K-9 — will make an appearance on the green carpet.

The animals will not be offering paw autographs, but will be available to pose for photographs with children, and parents are encouraged to bring cameras.

But they aren’t the only Super Hero animals.

Renee Geffken will have photographs and biographies of 17 different animals — all waiting at the Porterville Animal Shelter, and looking for a new home.

“We have given them all some sort of super power,” said Angela Vera, PART volunteer coordinator. “It’s an educational event but also a fun event.”

Porterville’s super hero animals were photographed in costume.

“We have one who is a body guard for a famous rapper; one who is a super hero of recycling, and a superhero who is a Galaxy 9 employee. He has a long nose that is so refined that he knows exactly when the theater’s popcorn is mouth-watering good. That is his super human power,” Geffken said.

Children, and adults, heading to see the movie can stop at the booth and learn about pet care, being a good pet owner, and learn about the importance of spaying and neutering and volunteering. Geffken said they will have a lot of educational media.

“Mainly we want to let people know we exist and emphasize spay and neutering. We will have handouts on areas that people can focus on,” she said. “Everybody can do something, even if they live in an apartment. We have a big wish list and people can help us by donating what we need.”

PART’s ultimate goal is to help the animals find permanent homes.

“Currently we have approximately 100 or more that are in different stages at our shelter. From that amount we have some in foster care, some pending adoption, some pending rescue, unless adopted first,” Vera said. “Even thou we run with lots of challenges, the passion among the volunteers that help us daily to be able to move any dogs is amazing to say the least.”

Vera also talked about the importance of finding volunteers for the center.

“The Animal Control Crew that we have right now is amazing but we are going to loose some great workers pretty soon — they are going to retire — and that is going to present some challenges for our furry friends,” Vera said. “We need to educate the community and continue with a great crew of workers. What we need in this area is to educate about spay and neuter and for the community to schedule their appointment with the local vets and get the dogs spayed or neutered to control unwanted population.”

PART will be at the Galaxy 9 Theater, 631 North Indiana Street, from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.