All creatures great and small were treated to a special church service in Mount Gambier recently.


A variety of much-loved pets were blessed at Christ Church Anglican Church Mount Gambier at a 9.30am service.


Those blessed included 12 dogs, three ginger cats and two tiny turtles.


As well as pets at the service, photos of absent pets belonging to friends and relatives and much loved deceased pets were all blessed by Archdeacon Neil Fernando using Holy water.


The pets who received a blessing were given a certificate to commemorate the occasion.


The service, which has become a popular annual fixture on the Christ Church calendar, was held in the hall due to the weather.


South East Animal Welfare League and Riding for the Disabled fundraiser Natalie Zwar and Maxine Spence from Wet Noses Animal Rescue spoke to the congregation about the work of their organisations.


Pet food donated by members of the parish was presented to the speakers and financial donations were provided to all three organisations by a church donor.


Father Fernando said he was very impressed by the behaviour of all the pets at the service.


He believed that God had a special place for animals after they died.


A sobering thought was the tiny turtles would probably outlive everyone at the service, even the children, due to their life span when cared for as pets.