b"Blessing of the Animals. palm harborIn conjunction with the celebration of the Feast ofSt. Francis, area pet owners brought their furry lovedones to the first annual Curlew Hills Memory GardensPet Blessing Ceremony on Saturday, October 3.Morethan 50 animals attended. While most were dogs, therewas a squirrel or two in the house. Keenan Knopke,President & CEO of Curlew Hills Memory Gardenspresented checks in the amount of $1,000 to CanineEstates in Palm Harbor, Humane Society of Pinellas Buddy.and Suncoast Animal League. Curlew Hills MemoryGardens, one of Floridas only authentic pet cemeteries,felt it was important to highlight and thank these three Cotton.charitable organizations that help the communityshomeless companion animals.Keenan mentioned thatthey plan to host another pet blessing ceremony in 2016.Rev. Daniel McDonald with North Bay CommunityChurch led families in the ceremony with a shortscripture and prayer.He mentioned his understadingof how pets are an extention the family.Each pet was given a personalized Pet BlessingCertificate which included the names of both the petand owner, signed by Rev. Daniel McDonald after hepersonally blessed each one.Be certain to check The New Barker Events calendaronline at TheNewBarker.com/EVENTS for a completelist of 2016 Pet Blessings across Florida, including Curlew Danny Boy. Moose.Hills Memory Gardens.Photography and text by Heather Schulman.CanineEstates.com - HumaneSocietyOfPinellas.orgSuncoastAnimalLeague.orgland olakes(Left to right): Tank a two-year-old BlueNose Pit Bull. Missy is in back. Molly hasthe red bow (she is a Bichon Frise). LittleThe Annual Pasco Pet Fest was another success for organizers Trina Messano and Bit is in the middle. Missy and Little BitJason Longo. Proceeds benefited Pit Bull Happenings Rescue. Food trucks, wine tasting may or may not be Bichons.Pongo, a three-and live entertainment rounded out a day of fun and lots of great shopping. Reserve year-old Dalmatian mix, available forSaturday, October 1 2016 for the next Pet Fest, to be held again at Florida Estates adoption through the Humane Society ofWinery. Interested in becoming a vendor? Contact Trina@DoggieCakes.com West Florida (Land O'Lakes).Photographs by Dawn Reilley.Pit Bull Happenings Rescue - PitBullRescue.ocmwww.TheNewBarker.com Winter 2016 THE NEW BARKER 91"