Police are investigating after a major show for animal lovers in west London allegedly left angry stall holders £200,000 out of pocket amid reports the organiser has vanished.
London Pet Show Live 2025 at Olympia was branded “a disaster” by contractors and suppliers when it failed to attract 20,000 visitors as promised, according to reports.
Some say there were closer to 2,000 attendees with event space left largely empty and an atmosphere described as “dead, dead, dead”.
Elite Events Live Limited had billed the event which took place between September 20 and 21 as the “UK’s biggest show for pet lovers”.
Celebrity vet Dr Scott Miller was spotted on the main stage giving his talk to “just two people” and row upon row of vacant seats, the Daily Mail reported.
Social media influencer Travis Nelson, who appeared with his cat Sigrid, is said to have been taken aback by the lack of visitors turning up to a “meet and greet”.
Elite Events Live’s director Oscar Von Keysall, who is listed at Companies House, reportedly “disappeared and ceased all communication”.
Von Keysall, 62, of Ascot, Berkshire, was contacted by the Standard for comment.
He previously pleaded guilty to five offences of misleading and deceiving advertisers while running a publishing company in 2010.
Von Keysall was fined £1,500 for each offence and ordered to pay costs of £7,500, Westminster City Council confirmed.
When approached a force spokesman told the Standard: “Thames Valley Police are aware of a number of fraud reports that have been made in relation to the London Pet Show Live 2025.
“We are currently reviewing the circumstances around these reports.”
