When Andrew Brinker thinks about what it means to love your neighbor — he is reminded of the turtles in the Trinity River.
Brinker has long cared for the hard-shelled, leathery reptiles. In 2017, the then-biology and environmental science teacher at Fort Worth ISD’s Paschal High School launched the Trinity Turtle Survey. For three years, students caught the tiny creatures, tagged and collected data on the population and released them back onto the river bank. When the study ended, Brinker traveled to Austin to speak at a Texas Parks and Wildlife hearing over whether to ban the commercial collection of turtles.
Since becoming a professor in 2022 for Texas Academy of Biomedical Sciences, housed at the Tarrant County College Trinity River Campus, Brinker’s care for turtles hit even closer to home when some of his students came across an acorn-sized hatchling.
Students feared the baby turtle would be preyed upon. Brinker and his class decided to keep him. For a year, Slick the turtle grew in a 10-gallon enclosure displayed in the school.
Now fully grown, Slick is big enough to be on his own. But before Brinker released him on Sept. 29, the two made a stop at Texas Christian University’s pet blessing.
While other students attended to receive blessings for their furry companions, Brinker hoped sharing his journey with Slick helped attendees feel a greater sense of connection with the environment during the annual sacred tradition.
“I believe this blessing is not only about thanking God for our pets, but about opening our hearts to all creatures — especially the overlooked ones,” Brinker said. “These wild neighbors remind us that we live in a community with far more beings than we usually acknowledge.”
Andrew Brinker is a professor for Texas Academy of Biomedical Sciences, housed at the Tarrant County College Trinity River Campus. He brought Slick the turtle to Texas Christian University’s pet blessing on Sept. 29, 2025, to share his work on the Trinity River’s turtle population. (Marissa Greene | Fort Worth Report)
The connection between animals and faith is a relatively new field within religious studies at TCU, said Dave Aftandilian, an associate professor of anthropology and director of the Human-Animal Relationships minor.
The program, first offered in 2016, helps students understand how humans impact the lives of other animals, both wild and domestic.
Aftandilian is also one of the organizers for the university’s pet blessing. He intentionally invites wildlife experts like Brinker to help bring awareness to the needs of creatures like Slick — in addition to those of the student’s fluffy friends.
“It’s really important to acknowledge all aspects of the human-animal bond,” Aftandilian said. “All animals are God’s creatures, and we should care about all of them.”
Dave Aftandilian, an associate professor of anthropology and director of the Human-Animal Relationships degree program, looks at Slick the turtle during a Texas Christian University pet blessing event on Sept. 29, 2025. (Marissa Greene | Fort Worth Report)
TCU’s blessing of the animals event has been a university tradition for about two decades, said Lea McCracken, associate chaplain and church relations officer at TCU.
The event honors the connection students — many of whom are away from home — have with their pets and fosters a sense of community, she said.
“It really is this understanding that all of these gifts of companionship and nature and earth and beauty really comes from God,” McCracken said. “So it’s a way to just hold space and hit pause in life and say, ‘I’m going to give thanks for all of this beauty around me.’”
The university blessing event comes days before St. Francis of Assisi Day, or the Feast of St. Francis, on Oct. 4.
Known as the patron saint of ecology and animals, the Italian friar was born in 1182 and lived into the 13th century. He founded the Franciscan Order within the Catholic Church and was known for his love of nature, birds and all creatures.
Francis died Oct. 3, 1226. He was officially declared a saint by Pope Gregory IX two years later.
Today, churches host Blessing of the Pets ceremonies where Christians and the general public can bring their furry, feathered and scaled companions to receive a blessing such as a prayer or sprinkle of holy water.
Some pet owners may ask for something specific, such as prayers for a pet getting a dental cleaning, or for a general blessing. Those who can’t bring a pet along for an in-person visit or who wish to commemorate ones who have passed away can bring a photo to the service.
Lea McCracken, associate chaplain and church relations officer at Texas Christian University, offers a blessing to a photo of pets on Dave Aftandilian’s phone on Sept. 29, 2025. (Marissa Greene | Fort Worth Report)
After the blessing service ended at the university, Brinker released Slick back to his original home in the Trinity River.
Even though Slick is big enough to swim into turtle-adulthood all on his own, he’s too small to be marked with a microchip, Brinker said.
The professor won’t ever know if the next turtle he catches is his reptilian friend returned — but he’s OK with that. On top of the research the students gathered, they also learned a life lesson on how to be environmental stewards, he said.
“Connecting them to the river so they understand how their choices at home can affect animals that live as neighbors here in Fort Worth … that’s more important than any of the data that we collected on the turtles,” Brinker said.
Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org.
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