The Renton History Museum wants to share its collection of evidence of Rentonites’ love for their pets in the new exhibit “Furry Friends: From Fads to Family.”

An opening reception for the exhibit will be held at 5:30 p.m., Feb. 17 at the museum, 235 Mill Ave. S., Renton. Guests and their “well-behaved and leashed furry friends” are invited to enjoy light refreshments and take photos in the museum’s “Victorian photo booth.”

“Furry Friends” will be on display from Feb. 17 to Aug. 29.

Because of the museum’s extensive collection, Director Elizabeth Stewart thought it was time to explore that relationship between people and their beloved pets.

“We even have photos from the 1910s of people who brought their dogs to photo studio for inclusion in formal family portraits,” said Stewart via email. “And obviously Renton history was also shaped by working animals, from mine mules to K-9 officers, who have been important partners to their human handlers.”

Visitors to the museum will learn how the relationship between animals and humans has evolved over time. As animals became less central to peoples’ working lives, they have become even more important to peoples’ personal lives, Stewart said.

The exhibit also features “famous” local pets from Spirit, the Marmaduke movie double, to Titan the K-9 and Henri, Le Chat Noir, of cat video fame.

Museum staff has included a “Victorian photo booth” in the exhibit because they were impressed by the numerous formal family portraits that include the family pet that the collection has. The idea was to give visitors a chance to recreate something similar.

“We’re hoping they’ll share them with the museum as well as putting them up on Facebook and Instagram,” said Stewart. “Visitors will also have the chance to vote on whether dogs or cats make the best pets, and the winner will be featured on the front of the museum in August.”

In March, the museum will feature the program “Exploring the Rich Historic Tradition of Cat Videos with the Creator of Henri, Le Chat Noir.”

Creator Will Braden will use clips of historic cat videos to show that while the Internet may be relatively new, peoples’ fascination with filming their pets is not. Henri, le Chat Noir is the winner of the Internet Cat Video Festival Golden Kitty Award.

The presentation is from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., March 19 at the museum.