>>>ever been to a pet blessing? well, no big deal really, except those attending are the "holy dogs" of all sizes and shapes (and characters). we knew october was pet month, hence, there would usually be a mass followed by blessing of your household pets. well, years back, i saw on TV a pet blessing held at the malate church wherein all animals - of all kinds and breeds - dogs, cats, snakes, rabbits, hamsters, birds, iguanas, turtles, etc. were blessed after the holy mass.
>>>we had over 50 cats raised during the years so it was quite impossible to transport them to malate church. we would have wanted mooey & booey to be blessed, even my favorite orangecat, inkelboy. nevertheless, getting blessed wasn't a sure thing to make them obedient, kind and holy. but all of my cats, present and past were just as adorable and they were family to us.
>>>daughter informed us last minute that there was going to be a pet blessing at the eastwood mall oct. 3, a sunday at 5:30 pm. we had finn in mind since he has been coming with us and riding the car wasn't new to him. an opportunity, so we decided for a go show. i bundled up his "kit" consisting of water (placed in an airtight/leak proof container); his alpo kibbles, and some plastic bags for foo-foo. we arrived at eastwood just as the procession was about to begin. there in front was the image of St. Francis of Assisi. it was finn's first time to travel long distance (and to walk long distance, too). he created a scene when he stopped at the pedestrian crossing and rolled over, to my embarrassment. daughter had to apologize because cars halted and caused a small traffic. i literally had to drag/carry finn to get him to the other side of the road! no problem, though. the kids on the vehicles were quite amused with finn's antics and started waving at him.
>>>the procession was a killer! was that a death march for the dogs, owners and handlers!!! most of the dogs, esp the little ones (toy dogs, for that matter) had their tongues dangling in heat, fatigue and stress - the larger ones (huskies, shepherds, labradors) had their share of stress from the march, too. others were running in all directions, their cutee little booties straying away from their cutee paws. but my native dog (and the only native one in the pack) was the most behaved dog and we were just proud of him. he never showed hostility to anyone - dogs or humans. he just walked between my husband & daughter while i held on to his harness.
the long walk proved to be tiring for the dogs, esp to the smaller ones - they drank water as though there wasn't any tomorrow anymore. some snuggled on the plants along the side entrance of the mall - to cool down, maybe? finn had his share of the heat. he was panting like crazy - that was some exercise for his heavy body!
>>>after the mass we had this sort of "pledge of allegiance" to our pets. the thing that goes..."i (state your name), do hereby swear, to take good care of my pet (state name of pet).....and i just can't help but hug and kiss finn. for even without that portion of the event, finn has always been our baby, even treated him more like human and will do up to the time he'll serve us in his time.
>>>with his human papa carrying him up the stage where an improvised altar was placed, finn and human were blessed. and just like a behaved doggie, he was quiet and savored the moment of the evening breeze where he and other beloved
doggies (and cats) were lovingly remembered - and in honor of the patron saint of animals, St. Francis of Assisi.
*****it was great to see familiar faces from PAWS (phil. animal welfare society) where we got finn november of last year. finn was a shelter dog, having been rescued at the height of typhoon "ondoy" in the middle of laguna de bay. there was his mama charlene, handler john and vet, dr. almoro.
