Animal Sweetness: Olvera Beastie Blessings

Dogs, cats, turtles, and the occasional horse trot for the historic district.

What's the first thing you do when you enter a new friend's house?

You might nose around their bookshelf or admire the art or nose through bathroom cabinet (always a dubious choice). But a popular choice is to get on the floor and visit with the house's resident animal.

Or animals, more and more. You might have heard the word that people are rather sweet on their pets -- look to the ever-burgeoning boutique shop industry -- and want them to participate in many of the things we do.

Like holiday traditions. And while we can't take our dogs to watch Christmas parades and Halloween costume events -- wait, we totally all do that -- there is something just for our pets come Easter: The Blessing of the Animals.

It's a free happening, year in, year out, it's an Olvera Street to-do, year in, year out, and not just dogs and cats show. A fish bowl with a tiny golden fin-flipper swimming inside it might roll in on a little red wagon, while another human might show with a gekko, a hedgehog, or both.

Archbishop Jose Gomez will be giving the blessings, and the procession? It's one of the sweetest, and most photographed, parts of the day. Dress up you pup or turtle, or decorate their carrier or wheels, in springtime finery and color.

Time's noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 19, meaning there shall be entertainment and pleasant ways to pass the afternoon. But if you want to hop into the procession (maybe literally, if you're arriving with a rabbit), then be there by 2 p.m.

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