Hell hath no furry.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of New Yorkers toted their fluffy, winged and scaled family members to St. John the Divine in Manhattan Sunday morning for a special benediction at the Episcopal church\u2019s annual Blessing of the Animals.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of New Yorkers toted four-legged family members to St. John the Divine in Manhattan Sunday morning for a special benediction. Heather Khalifa for the NY Post<\/p>\n
The decades-old event \u2013 which celebrates the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of the environment and ecology \u2013 began with its infamous Procession of the Animals featuring a camel, horse, cow, snake, birds and a mini-pony before pets in attendance were blessed by clergy on the Cathedral lawn.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think people get so excited that their pets are welcome in this space and that they\u2019re blessed,\u201d cathedral programming executive director Laura Bosley told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have people sometimes whose pets can\u2019t come with them because they\u2019ll be ill or maybe they\u2019ve recently passed, and they will bring photographs and our clergy will bless that memory.\u201d<\/p>\n
An owl is carried into the St. John the Divine Cathedral in Morningside Heights, Manhattan. Heather Khalifa for the NY Post<\/p>\n
A man holds a small calf during the Blessing of the Animals service. Heather Khalifa for the NY Post<\/p>\n
Recent years have seen a tarantula, butterflies, a sloth and a chicken named Lady Gaga as among the blessed pets, she said, alongside this year\u2019s turtle, rabbit, guinea pig and slew of cats and dogs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPets are a lot of people\u2019s children,\u201d Bosley added, \u201cand to have us be so open and respectful of that, I think people respond to very strongly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The procession of barnyard and exotic animals \u2013 which included the first-ever cathedral appearance of a baby Zebu \u2013 was reduced to just a handful of creatures this year due to complaints from animal advocates, Bosley said.<\/p>\n
A horse is escorted through the church aisles during the Blessing of the Animals. Heather Khalifa for the NY Post<\/p>\n
A camel was one of a handful of animals blessed during the cathedral service. Heather Khalifa for the NY Post<\/p>\n
The remaining animals, all provided by animal talent agency All Tame Animals, all have individual permits and are used to the limelight, the spokesperson assured.<\/p>\n
\u201cExploiting animals for entertainment teaches parishioners all the wrong messages about responsible animal guardianship,\u201d John Di Leonardo of Humane Long Island told The Post, adding he is urging the church to \u201chonor the patron saint of animals next year\u201d by committing to stop hiring animals for entertainment.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to use animals that are a little more used to being in a large room, in a large space with a lot of people,\u201d Bosley refuted. \u201cThe day is about celebrating all God\u2019s creatures \u2026 but we have been very respectful of the animal advocates\u2019 position.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pair of dolled-up Yorkies are blessed during the Sunday event. Heather Khalifa for the NY Post<\/p>\n
Hundreds of New Yorkers lined up for the blessing event on the Cathedral lawn. Heather Khalifa for the NY Post<\/p>\n
Hundreds of Big Apple faithful lined up outside the 110th Street cathedral event \u2013 which filled up in minutes \u2013 and waited for hours for their pets\u2019 benediction after the ceremony.<\/p>\n
Sisters Julissa and Jumirna Alcober brought their beloved parakeets, Rio and Lemon, to continue a streak of good health.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cRio was sick a couple months ago,\u201d Julissa, 31, said, \u201cbut he\u2019s healed really nicely \u2013 he\u2019s much better so I think that was my motivation behind [attending]. Like, let\u2019s him blessed, he went through a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur last bird spent 16 years with us,\u201d Jumirna, 29, added. \u201cWe wanted to honor his legacy too.\u201d<\/p>\n
East Harlem resident Dawn Wells brought her 20-month-old beagle Chloe to the blessing because the church for the \u201ccultural experience,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
A shaggy dog rests during the Blessing of the Animals service at St. John the Divine. Heather Khalifa for the NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a cultural institution,\u201d Wells, 45, said, adding she\u2019s been waiting for well over a decade since attending nearby Columbia University and learning about the quirky tradition to attend the event.<\/p>\n
Harlem resident Mei W., a three-year attendee, said she brought her 11-month-old Aussie Shepard mix Lola Fern to the event because \u201cthis one has the devil in her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe tears up all my slippers and flip flops and chews them up,\u201d Mei, 65, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Episcopalian priests are lovely \u2014 and they say their names, it\u2019s very intentional,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like they\u2019re really being blessed.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hell hath no furry. Hundreds of New Yorkers toted their fluffy, winged and scaled family members to St.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":280476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,144965,4654,5249,5248,405,403,7619,5226,5225,5228,5227,7926,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-280475","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-blessing-of-the-animals","10":"tag-dogs","11":"tag-manhattan","12":"tag-metro","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-new-york-city-life","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkcity","18":"tag-ny","19":"tag-nyc","20":"tag-pets","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-us-news","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115324087522222012","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}