La Cañada church holds animal blessing service

St. George’s Episcopal Church in La Cañada Flintridge celebrated creatures big and small during an outdoor blessing of the animals service on Sunday morning.

Among those receiving blessings were 52 humans, 20 dogs, 12 cats, three lop-eared rabbits, a cockatiel and a desert tortoise, said the Rev. Amy Pringle, who led the service. She also blessed a small corral of special-guest farm animals that included five chickens, a goat, a sheep, a pony and a mule.

“I think it’s most people’s favorite service all year. By meeting each other’s pets, people get to share parts of their lives and families at home that you normally don’t get to see [in church],”said Pringle.

The service also included a tribute to service dogs and information about pet adoption.

St. George’s has held blessing of the animals services for the past five years, and always without incident despite the variety of creatures present, said Pringle.

The animals “seem to instinctively know they’re on church behavior,” she said.

-- Joe Piasecki, joe.piasecki@latimes.com

Follow on Twitter: @JoePiasecki.