Fred Bergendorff, "Pet Place" Host, a good friend of a good friend of mine, 63

I received word of his passing from my dear friend/hostess in L.A., Jeanne
Khan, of this man's passing. She was a patroness of his show, and I will
never forget sitting at the end of Jeannie's queen sized bed on Saturday
mornings in front of the huge wide screen TV watching Pet Place with her
even as she was signing cheques and handing them to her hubby to take to the
mail "to help Fred out."

- nilita


Monday, January 28, 2008
'Pet Place' host dies
Fred Bergendorff created the TV show to help animals in shelters find homes.
By MARYANNE DELL The Orange County Register




Fred Bergendorff, 63, who helped thousands of homeless pets get adopted
through his "Pet Place" television show, died Sunday night in Brea after a
long illness, Gary Lycan, the show's senior producer, said Monday.

Bergendorff had been a longtime KNX/1070 AM marketing director and retired
from the radio station in 2002. He created "The Pet Place" in the early
1990s after searching for a cat that had been taken to an animal shelter,
according to the show's Web site, www.thepetplace.org. The shelter
experience led him to seek a way to find homes for animals that didn't have
them.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of animals have crossed the "Pet Place"
stage, as Bergendorff and a series of rescuers, animal control personnel and
volunteers have highlighted animals big and small, focusing not only on
placing them into homes, but also on what constitutes a good home.

Bergendorff always had a message for his viewers: Animals are family members
and should be treated as such. He also highlighted people in the animal-care
community, and the annual "Pet Place" holiday luncheon honored people and
animals who had had positive effects on each other's lives.

A radio version of the TV show began in 2006 with KGIL 540 and 1260 AM. It
continues Saturday mornings with Marie Hulett, freelance Register columnist,
as host.

The television show also has continued on KDOC-TV on Sunday mornings with
host Mickey Laszlo.

"Fred's goal was to find homes for all the adoptable animals," said Lycan,
also senior producer of the radio show, "and it was Fred's desire that it
would be his legacy - and our goal - to continue his rewarding work to help
shelters and rescue groups throughout Southern California. And that is our
plan."

Bergendorff was hospitalized in October for multiple muscular and nerve
problems. He was receiving long-term therapy at Kindred Hospital Brea at the
time of his death. Funeral arrangements are pending.



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