January 17th is the day of san Anton and the tradition in Spain is that on this day animals are blessed by a priest in the name of San Anton.In Alicante this happened in the local bullring.It was filled to celebrate a tradition which goes back 500 years .

This year more than 1000 pets were blessed and the variety of animals was vast.There were the usual dogs and cats but also turtles,fish ,rabbits,horses,hamsters,ferrets,birds and many more.All of the animals were looking their best and many dogs were dressed for the occasion.

The event was used to raise money for Haiti with red Cross volunteers collecting monies from the crowds.