People aren’t the only things on this earth that could use a blessing. At least that was the mentality at the third annual All God’s Creatures Blessing of the Pets at the First Presbyterian Church of Milton. On Saturday, dozens of pets, including some out-of-the ordinary ones came out to the event to get a blessing from Pastor Jo Kublik. “This is our third annual for the Blessing of the Pets,” Kublik said. “We had a lot more out here this year.” Including, of all things, a hedgehog. “Yes, I blessed a hedgehog,” Kublik said. Dogs are usually the pets seen receiving blessings at the event. People like Heidi Klimich of Pace said she came out to the event because she loved the idea. “I think it’s a good idea, and I wish more churches would do it,” Klimich said. “There are not a lot of churches that take in pets like this.” Klimich said she knew of a church somewhere in Florida that actually allowed pets to attend church services. “I really think something like this is a good thing,” Klimich said. The Pace resident brought her German Shepperd to the event to be blessed by Kublik. Others like Zena the Jack Russell came to the event to snoop around the different booths at the event. Some of them had dog treats, and even human treats. “My dogs are really ill, and they really need a blessing,” said Diane McCoy, Zena’s owner. The owner also brought out another one of her dogs. She said that the pets have had a rough year so far. “One of them had to have surgery and they hurt their legs,” McCoy said. For others like Ashley Bush of Pace, her six-month-old lab/chow mix just needed a puppy blessing. “I heard about this and came,” Bush said. “This is new to me.” Every year, the church sponsors a pet organization to sponsor. And all of their proceeds from the event go to that sponsor. “This year we chose the Santa Rosa County Horse Assistance Council. SRCHAC was founded by horse owners that work together with county agencies to improve the welfare of the nearly 14,000 horses in the county. The SRCHAC is a volunteer-based organization.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Taking the time to paws and pray