There was pause for praise as guide dogs went to church yesterday to celebrate 30 years of the charity helping people with sight loss in Northern Ireland.
With tails wagging, the working Labradors got their paws into the pews and lay down for a sleep on the cool cathedral floor as a service of thanksgiving took place attended by the Lord Mayor of Belfast Arder Carson.
A security lock down of Belfast city centre yesterday as the police anticipated an anti-internment march that was due to pass St Anne's Cathedral did not deter guide dog supporters.
The Guide Dogs NI charity arrived in Northern Ireland in 1984, bringing services closer to the communities here.
The organisation says since its arrival it has created more than 400 guide dog partnerships, developed a range of services for people living with blindness and "continued to campaign alongside them for the rights that most sighted people take for granted".
Scores of guide dogs and puppies in training celebrated with their trainers and owners being urged by the Dean of St Anne's John Mann, to "give them a pat from the Dean".
"In very direct and biblical terms these special dogs have almost given sight to the blind," said the Dean.
"Thanksgiving to God is at the heart of the service today. Thanksgiving for those who had the insight that dogs could guide.
"Only God knows the millions of miles of mobility which Guide Dogs have brought to their very special owners," he said.
