The Nicaraguan Susana Ríos, owner of “Kira” -a two-year-old dog-, took her pet this Sunday to the Santa María Magdalena church, in the city of Masaya, southeast Nicaragua, to pay a promise to San Lázaro for have healed his puppy.
Susana Ríos, along with hundreds of devotees, dressed up their dogs and bitches, and went to the mass celebrated in the Santa María de Magdalena parish to pay their promises to San Lázaro, revered in Nicaragua as the saint of pets and protector of animals. animals.
“We come to pay a promise to San Lázaro because she (dog) is alive,” Ríos, a native of Masaya, told Efe.
This Nicaraguan, with her teary eyes, reported that “Kira” was in poor health because she suffered from parvovirus, a highly contagious viral disease that mainly affects unvaccinated pets, she explained.
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“I told him (San Lázaro) that I was going to bring her (pet) walking from the house (to the Santa María Magdalena church) to put her candle and leave her miracle,” added Ríos, who in total went to Mass with three pets, all survivors of the same disease.
The Santa María Magdalena church welcomed this Sunday hundreds of pets dressed in hats, gala dresses, ballet dancers or with bows, who were presented by their owners before San Lázaro, who asked, mainly, for the health of their puppies.
The devotees came with candles and flowers to the church, located in the city of Masaya, 26 kilometers southeast of Managua.
In Nicaragua, San Lázaro is venerated as the saint of pets and this annual pilgrimage for favors received or to pray for others is deeply rooted in this Central American country and is celebrated prior to Holy Week.
Jerónima del Carmen Baltodano is another Nicaraguan who attended this traditional religious festival with her three-month-old dog “Tonky”.
The woman, in the midst of hubbub, told Efe that her pet has been undergoing veterinary treatment for a month because it is listless and lacks appetite.
Therefore, he said, he offered to go dancing to the church if Saint Lazarus could restore his pet’s appetite and spirits.
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“Tonky”, with completely white fur, was presented and raised at the feet of the saint, located on a pedestal and adorned with flowers and candles.
Breeds such as German shepherds, chihuahuas, pitbulls and chow chows, and even “creole” dogs, were brought before the small image, located on the right side of the Santa María Magdalena parish church. The parish priest, Pedro Méndez, offered the crowd a Eucharist in which, citing texts, recalled that Lázaro was an impoverished man covered with sores and that only dogs approached him.
The day included a pilgrimage with San Lázaro, and the choice of the best costumes for the puppies.
The best dressed dogs received special food prizes, awarded by the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism, which organizes this event.
In addition, brigades of the Ministry of Health carried out a day of vaccination against rabies.
