This past Sunday, October 4, 2009, was the Feast of St. Francis. St. Francis is widely accepted as the patron saint of animals. Although "Angel" Connie Carmichael tells us the tradition of blessing the animals can be traced back to the 4th Century with St. Anthony Abbot. St. Francis didn't come along until nearly 900 years later. That would be a good argument among Medieval historians but none the less St. Francis gets the honor.
This Blessing was sponsored by the Alley Cat Aid Brigade with the help of Father Peter Haladej, Pastor of Wellsville's Immaculate Conception Church and EL's St. Als. All pets were given a St. Francis metal after the blessing.
It was a nice turn out and like the one in EL last week there were all kinds of dogs and a few cats. I would estimate there were around 30 pet owners there on a cloudy, chilly Sunday morning.
It was a wide array of dogs and cats. There was Highway, a kitten adopted by a couple of the ACAB angels. There was a 17 year old cat named Timmy who has traveled all over the eastern part of the USA. Timmy is leash trained and is shown in the lower right of the collage. The pup in the blue blanket is a senior canine citizen trying to keep warm. Penelope, a four month old dachshund, was there giving everyone & anyone kisses. Merfilu, a nine week old tea cup poodle, was a bit more skittish staying close to her human. There was a beautiful blue eyed husky, therapy dogs and other canine companions of questionable heritage. Many of the dogs & cats were rescue animals. The owner of the two dobermans said he bought one and the other was a rescue dog that began life as a racing dog.
It's always heart warming to witness the TLC owners have for their pets and go out of their way to get the Good Lord's blessing for them. It was obvious that all of them greatly appreciated the efforts of the ACAB in arranging the opportunity. The ville is blessed to have two groups that give freely of their time providing events like this.
Thanks ladies...
ole nib
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