Oct. 3, 2011 By Christian Murray
The Blessing of the Animals took place at All Saints Episcopal Church in Sunnyside on Sunday.
About 25 families went to the 46th Street church accompanied by their pets.
At this year’s ceremony it was just the canines that showed up. “In the past there were dogs, cats and even turtles,” said Luke Adams, a long-time neighborhood resident.
Pet owners spoke of how much they loved their animal and why they wanted a blessing for their pet. Then the blessings began. Father Joseph Jerome visited each animal and gave each one of them their own special blessing.
The event is held around the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, who was known for his love for all creatures. In many big churches a procession of cats to horses are part of the blessing.
Featured Events
16 Comments
Where is Raquel’s comment stating that she’s somehow offended by this?
I hope Jimmy will assign an officer from the NYC Health Department Veterinary division to make sure that all the dogs that use the new dog run in Lodati Park, as well as the Noonan playground are in fact licensed and vaccinated as NYC and NYS laws require. It’s only $8.50 for a spayed dog, but when you add it up it will help the fiscal crisis.
@EA
If it truly dosen’t apply to you than you don’t need to respond but I don’t see how anyone who is innocent would call my comments yelling.
Do you merely pick up after your pet or do you do anything about urine or residue that remains behind?
@Paul
I know how to deal with a situation when I know who is responsible but the inconsiderate pet owners don’t wear signs.
The offending substance is generally found in the morning hours allowing these creeps to use darkness and late hours to avoid being observed.
Good response Paul!
The people who cared enough about our pets to get them blessed on St. Francis’ day are the same people who care enough about our neighborhood to pick up after our dogs! Go find out who’s letting his dog leave a shit in front of your building, take a photo bring to Community Board 2, or United Fourties, or Councilman Van Bramer’s office and make sure he, or she, gets a stiff fine!
And to “Roger_the_Shrubber” and his pet Croc, blessings aint about intervention, it’s hoping the saints will prevent harm to our animals.
Wish I knew about this sooner. My pet crocodile could use some divine intervention.
Mike-I don’t know what poop got to do with it. Or with almost any pet related posts on here…. but we all end up talking about it.
Bless the pooches and Damn the Owners to HELL! Enforce the Pooper Scooper Laws! Lazy, arrogant dog owners run amok in Sunnyside as they fail to pick up their priceless pup’s poop! 46th street between 39th Ave and Skillman Ave is the de facto dog run as all the canine lovers parade their pets down from the apartment buildings on 46th street between Skillman and Queens Blvd to allow them to defecate all over the sidewalks and even on peoples front gardens! Every day, I have to smell dog poop, look at dog poop, avoid stepping in dog poop and even CLEAN THE GODDAM STUFF UP….AND I DO NOT HAVE A DOG!!! Lets get some “quality of life” police officers down here and start handing out tickets to these lawbreakers who refuse to let their mutts defecate in front of their own apartments!!!
what does a dog’s poop have to do with the blessing of the animals?
Well stated, EA.
Poop baggies are as essential as a leash and collar when I’m walking my dogs. I imagine it’s the same for most dog owners. Yes, we’ve all been there when the dog poops twice and you brought only one bag, or the baggies are in your other jacket, but these cases are few and far between. And in those cases I’ll even go out of my way to grab even a scrap of paper or a leaf to pick it up.
Those who don’t pick up after their dogs probably don’t care much for their community, and therefore most likely aren’t reading this blog. Most commenters are preaching to the choir.
Cute!! Too bad my dog is an atheist.
As for the poop. It takes one person and their pooping dog. That one person will walk their dog twice or three times a day, every day. That is about 2.5 poops on average that they don’t pick up. On a good sunny day the droppings would lay outside for about a week. That’s about 17 poops lying around. That’s a lot for one person. So when you walk around and see this, it seems that all the dog owners do not pick up after their dogs! Which is not true! 99% of us care and clean up and we try really hard to keep this place poop free.
So please stop yelling at us!
Now if only somebody had shown up with a lamb….
Although I’m not religious, I think these are so cute. Good will to all mankind… and animals!!!!
I too bless the dogs in Sunnyside as I try to manuver the excrement left on sidewalks and in the crosswalks. This becomes even more exciting after dark and when the fallen leaves provide camouflage.
One might say that Sunnside has literally gone to the dogs. The recent increase in “poop” on the sidewalks is alarming.
Woof!