Furry friends in focus

Christ Church holds annual pet blessing service

The now annual Blessing of the Pets Service was held in the grounds of Christ Church Anglican Church earlier this month with around 25 dogs, five cats, a cockatoo and a parrot blessed by Fr Neil Fernando the Parish Priest, using holy water he had brought back from a recent visit to the Holy Land. Four of the cats had been brought along by Maxine Spence from Wet Noses Animal Rescue and are ready for adoption.

Maxine spoke about the work of Wet Noses, who rescue cats and dogs, care for them and ready them for new and hopefully better homes. Trevor and Trina Twilley, from the South East Animal Welfare League, also spoke about their rescue programs that have been in operation for many years and how they prepared cats and dogs for their new homes. Trevor and Trina are also volunteer native animal rescuers and Trina had a tiny wallaby with her which had been rescued the previous day and which she had started hand feeding every four hours.

Christ Church volunteer and one of the service organisers Sandy Coulson, said that the Pet Service had been held for many years and was popular with parishioners and new visitors to the church. This year Christ Church had been able to donate a large quantity of pet food donated by parishioners to Wet Noses who needed food for rescued animals. The Church would continue to hold the service as the companionship of pets is a very important part of many people’s lives.