Blessed are the guinea pigs …
… and cats and dogs too. Church holds pets and owners in a warm embrace
CAMBRIDGE — Bella and Onyx twitched and wriggled.
Their little girl gave them each a calming kiss.
“They don’t bite,” said 11-year-old Kari Stiller as she held her three-month old pet guinea pigs, one in each hand, outside St. Peter’s Evangelical Church in Preston on Sunday afternoon.
“I used to have gerbils. They would bite me and I couldn’t really cuddle with them.”
But Bella and Onyx deliver the snuggles when called upon by the gregarious Cambridge girl wearing purple accents in her hair, a Mickey Mouse T-shirt and ruby-red slippers worthy of Dorothy. So on Sunday, Kari and her family brought the cute guinea pig sisters to St. Pete’s for the first Blessing of the Animals ceremony held at the church.
On the shaded front lawn, water bowls dotted the turf in the late-September heat.
The human guests, who brought their pets or came to remember lost animals, mainly chose shorts. The many dogs — poodles and boxers and shih tzu and labs and pugs — opted for pants to stay cool.
One cat, a Himalayan named Krysta Lilly, looked suitably annoyed being surrounded by canines while in her carrying cage.
And then there was Miller’s travel cage carrying Bella and Onyx. They had a leaf-patterned blanket and leaves of kale and spinach to nibble on.
Bella has a white patch on her back. Onyx has longer and darker hair. She’s the runt.
“These guys are so cuddly and furry,” said Kari, who has had the pigs for about a month. “If I’m having a rough day I can just come up and cuddle with them and pet them.”
Bella and Onyx didn’t mind all the animal company. Kari has three cats at home too. Taffy is a tortoise-shell. Gabby and Yoda are tabbies.
The cats are getting older and don’t bother with the little pigs.
Sunday’s non-denominational ceremony was put on by the Home Hospice Association, which has an office at St. Pete’s. Tracey Robertson, HHA co-founder, has started The Bello Project, in memory of her late boxer Bello. It aims to find ways to keep pets together with owner-parents who are terminally ill and need support.
“He was an angel,” Robertson said of Bello.
On Sunday, Bella and Onyx were angelic too as they and Kari were blessed by pastor Janaki Bandara. The pastor held Onyx. Kari, a Twilight series fan, held Bella.
“May you all be blessed by the Creator with good health and long life,” Bandara said.