Mercy Southeast to hold blessing of the animal’s event and reveal new therapy dog

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – Mercy Southeast will hold a pet blessing to introduce their new therapy dog Millie, and in honor of the Feast of St. Francis, the patron saint of animals.

Pets are invited to join their owners for the blessing and the introduction of Mercy Southeasts new therapy dog Millie.

Millie is a golden doodle puppy who was adopted from the HavaHeart Rescue in Springfield, Missouri.

The Blessing of the Animals is at 8 a.m., Sat., Oct. 5, at Mercy Integrated Medicine building, 650 S. Mount Auburn Road, Cape Girardeau.

All pets and people of all faith traditions and spiritualities are welcome to be blessed. There will be photo opportunities for pets and their owners as well as giveaways for pets.

Many hospitals have therapy dogs as they are proven to reduce stress and anxiety to patients, staff, and visitors.

March of 2025 Millie will start services at Mercy Hospital Southeast, Mercy Hospital Stoddard and Mercy clinics across southeast Missouri after she completes extensive training and turns one year old.

“Millie will undergo 150 hours of training – 50 hours with a trainer present and 100 solo hours,” said Madeline Burke, patient experience director at Mercy Southeast who will be Millie’s primary handler. “During training, Millie will learn a variety of commands using sign language, a few tricks and an opportunity to learn certain alerts. Millie will practice in the hospital, The Lutheran Home of Cape Girardeau and public spaces such as grocery stores and restaurants.

This is a free event hosted by Mercy Southeast and all pets that can be easily controlled are welcome.

The event will last around 30 minutes.