Animals all four it at blessing

Four-legged friends from across the Surf Coast turned up for St Wilfrids Anglican Church’s Blessing of the animals in Mt Duneed on October 7.

Congregation member Anne Bartlett has been a part of the parish for over 20 years and said it was another fantastic success, led for the second time by Vicar Steve Copeland.

“We’ve run the Blessing of the Animals for the past 10 years and this is the second year Vicar Steve has been with us, he’s come from Barwon Heads and has done it there for a while,” Ms Bartlett said.

“It was fabulous, we probably had around 50 different pets. We had a horse, some rabbits and plenty of dogs. The sun shone, the crowd came, and all the animals came inside the church.

“The minister did his service then went out to the lawn to bless the horse first. It’s a day to thank God for our pets and animals and the joy they bring into our lives. It’s one of my favourite events and brings people together over a shared love of animals.”

Ms Bartlett said thanks to generous sponsorship for the day nearly every guest in attendance left with a prize of some sort.

“We had a veterinary nurse come from Bellarine Vets and Wendy Mitchell who judged the various sections. We had some very generous sponsors so nearly everybody got something.

“The support this year was fabulous with a lot of new faces coming along. It was a real buzz with people mixing with each other.”