Pets flock to special church service

St Mary’s Church in Peterborough held their first ever animal service on Saturday, with the congregation coming from far and wide to have their pets blessed.

Youngsters were also able to bring a teddy to get blessed as well.

Around half the attendees brought along a beloved animal - and with church staff having a mop and bucket on stand-by for any accidents, the service was a success - and is now set to become an annual event.

Rev Michael Moore, vicar at St Mary’s in New Road near the city centre, said: “It is the first time we held a pet service. We wanted to give people the chance to get their pets and soft toys blessed - they mean so much to a lot of people.

“We had about 15 dogs, some cats on leads, and even a chicken called Chuck.

“We had a lady from Guide Dogs for the Blind come along and give a bit of a talk. We raised more than £100 with the collection.

“We had bowls of water at the front of the church for the animals, and a mop and bucket on stand-by in case of any accidents - but all the animals were very well behaved. We thought there would be lots of barking but they all got on well.

“We also had a range of soft toys present - I think we had a lion, a giraffe, some sheep and an elephant.

We had people coming from as far away as Whittlesey for the service. I think we will look at doing this service again as an annual thing now.”