Hope Lutheran Church will hold its 10th Annual Blessing of the Animals worship service at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17. Registration opens at 8:30 a.m.
Area residents are invited to bring household pets (on a leash or in a carrier.) Those with pictures of an ill or now-departed pet and children with stuffed animals are also encouraged to attend.
Each registered pet will have its picture taken with its owner as a special reminder of the blessing.
The Humane Society/SPCA of Sumter County will have adoptable pets available. Also there will be Greyhound Adoptions, United Yorkie Rescue, Pug Rescue & Adoptions, and Southeast Guide Dogs.
New at this year’s service will be a petting zoo. Those attending will be able to see ponies, bunnies, goats, sheep, ducks, chickens, guinea pigs, miniature horses, cows, pigs, and donkeys. The petting zoo will operate from 9 a.m. to noon.
The Blessing of the Animals is an outreach ministry that began in 2004 to honor both living and deceased pets. The “blessing service” is Hope Lutheran Church’s gift to all persons in the community with pets as a part of their family.
This is a free event, but donations of pet food, blankets and towels will be collected for the Humane Society/SPCA of Sumter County, Inc. to help them to continue their volunteer work to help end animal suffering locally.
Hope Lutheran Church is located at the corner of County Road 466 and Morse Boulevard in The Villages and is golf-cart accessible. For more information, call (352) 750-2321.