Rev. Greg Syler of St. George Episcopal Church in Valley Lee blesses one of the dogs at the annual SMAWL Animal Fair.
Leonardtown, MD — “If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature – even a caterpillar – I would never have to prepare a sermon. So full of God is every creature.” Those were the words of Meister Eckhart, a 14th Century Dominican monk, as repeated by Rev. Greg Syler, rector of St. George Episcopal Church in Valley Lee during the pet blessing at the annual St. Mary’s Animal Welfare League (SMAWL) Animal Fair. The 11th annual event Saturday, May 9 at the St. Mary’s County Fairgrounds was indeed a celebration of all of God’s creatures, great and small.
The weather cooperated and two- and four-legged creatures filled the fairgrounds to enjoy each other’s company and participate in a number of events. The pet parade down the fair midway preceded the pet blessing and the always popular pet pageant followed. There also were Jersey Disc Devil’s demonstrations, a musical dog sit, and a woof it down contest.
The fairgrounds buildings and grounds were filled with vendors. For those looking for an adoptable pet, there were many options from rescue organizations such as SMAWL, Animal Relief Fund (ARF), Dogs on Deployment, Feral Car Rescue, Golden Retriever Rescue of Southern Maryland, Greyt Expectations Greyhound Rescue, The Humane Society of Calvert County, The Humane Society of Charles County, Pets on Wheels, Snowflake Society and Tri-County Animal Shelter. This writer, however, did not see any caterpillar’s for adoption to satisfy Meister Eckhart.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of SMAWL. According to President Katie Werner, “In 2014 SMAWL rescued, rehabilitated and adopted 30 dogs and 150 cats. We provided spay and neuter grants to approximately 150 pet owners in our area, and vaccinated over 900 animals through our monthly rabies clinics. Last year we welcomed over 1,000 people to our 10th Annual Animal Fair and held meet and greets every Saturday at PETCO, and joined our rescue partners at numerous events throughout Southern Maryland. In addition, our volunteers visited PETCO twice a day, every day to care for our adoptable cats residing at the PETCO cat condos. As we celebrate our two-year mark at our Cat Castle in Callaway we are able to provide a healthier environment for our fur-babies awaiting adoption and to give them a place where potential adopters can come and visit them. The Cat Castle is open on the weekends between 11 and 3 – stop by and say hi. This is just a snippet of what SMAWL does every day to carry out its mission.”
To find out more about SMAWL go to their website www.smawl.org
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thyebaynet.com
Please enjoy the Animal Fair Photo Gallery by The Bay Net photojournalist Ron Bailey.
