MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Furry friends and their owners gathered Monday afternoon, Oct. 5, at Mount Mary University for the annual pet blessing. There were dogs, cats, and even a turtle. 

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Sunday was the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, and the pet blessing was a celebration of that. 

The pastor blessing the pets shared how the experience builds understanding of religious concepts and community.

"Well, it feels very good and it feels like what we're doing is taking some of the things that are a little more abstract about our God and making them more real and more practical," said Father Larry Chapman. "Because that's what the pets are to us. And then getting to know each other, they always say about pets is that if you have a pet, that probably makes you a little more social with others because you talk to others with pets, you meet them and talk with them, and I think that's true here as well."

Pet blessings have become a tradition for churches all over the world, dating back more than 800 years because of the connection St. Francis had to animals. 

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