It’s take your pet to church day

From the back of the church, a cockatoo screeched periodically while a chicken sat patiently on a side aisle. Up by the altar, a young acolyte held her hamster in a pink plastic globe. In addition to the regular contingent of two-legged human animals, many pews had four-legged visitors, mostly of the canine variety. It was Blessing of the Animals day at Holy Trinity in Menlo Park, which, like many other churches around the county, welcomed pets to Sunday worship today in remembrance of St. Francis and his love of animals. A tangle of leashes  accompanied the actual blessing by the clergy, but all pets behaved with a just a few woofs from the dogs. Sara and Peter Bostock brought Riley the Labrador Retriever and Margot the Shiba Inu with them to the 10:30 service.

Photo by Chris Gulker