It’s not every day you walk into your local church to be greeted by the sight of dogs sat in the pews.

However, on Saturday that was the sight that those visiting St Cuthbert’s Church, Carlisle saw when attending the pet service.

Organised by Reverend Teasdale, he explained: “St Cuthbert’s is the civic church and I also sit on the mayor’s charity board.

“It’s to raise money for guide dogs for the blind.

“I thought about a pet service and celebrating the animals and how important they are to us and decided to organise the pet service.”

More than 10 dogs were seen lying in the pews of the church while more than 20 people listened to the service given by Reverend Teasdale.

Opening the service he said: “We are here to give thanks for the animals.

“God gave us the animals to care for and they play a very important role.

“Pets are our companions, they are part of our families, they know when we are not well and they know when we are upset.”

Mayor of the city, Marilyn Bowman was there with her dog supporting the event.

She explained: “It was very kind of Reverend Teasdale to offer to organise the event in aid of one of my chosen charities.

“We are also animal lovers so it’s nice to be here and support the event too.”

Attendees had the opportunity to have their dogs blessed as well as entering a raffle to win prizes for their furry friends.

Visitors and their companions also took part in singing hymns during the one hour service, as well as listening to a talk from Mari Reay a vet at Craig Robinson vets.

She explained to dog owners the importance of microchipping.

She said: “Microchipping is a wonderful thing to have happened.

“It means dogs are coming back to their owners much quicker and we know when a dog is a stray.”

Mari also told pet owners about the important of having a contact number on the dogs collar, as well as keeping up to day with all vaccinations and the worming protocol.