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While there are several Blessing of the Animals events this weekend in the South Bay, there's also one in our neighboring city of Long Beach.

It's the 9th annual Interfaith Blessing of Animals presented by Haute Dogs, Justin Rudd and Gazette Newspapers at noon Saturday at Marine Stadium, 5225 E. Paoli Way.

Free spay and neuter vouchers will be handed to the first 10 animal owners to visit the Animal Care Services booth at the festival, which also features a series of dog contests, pet adoptions and vendors.

Here's the schedule:

• 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., pet adoptions and vendors
• 11 a.m. Ugly Dog and cute Dog contests
• Noon Interfaith Blessing of the Animals
• 1:15 p.m. Chihuahua Beauty Contest
• 1:45 p.m. Most Photogenic Dog contest (contestants bring two photos)
• 2 p.m. National Mutt Show

There are entry fees for the contests. The pet blessing ceremony is free -- and never boring. Last year's participants included a wildcat, monkey, ground hog, owl, monitor lizard and a 7-foot-long python.

Go to the Haute Dogs website for more details.

Happy Birthday to the Dog Beach in Long Beach.

And kudos especially to Justin Rudd and Rosie and everyone else who made this possible eight years ago. It was the culmination of much hard work and patience.

On June 24, 2001, for the first time in more than 30 years, dogs were permitted to play along the water's edge on a stretch of beach in Long Beach.

It was a pilot program in which the city agreed to let dogs onto the beach on one Sunday a month through the summer of 2003.

Things went so well that on Oct. 31, 2004, the Long Beach City Council unanimously approved the permanent Dog Beach Zone in the South Bay's neighboring city to the south east.

Now, owners can off-leash their dogs (one dog per person) on a 3-acre stretch near Belmont Shore year-round.

If you haven't been there, check it out. You and your dog will have a blast. There are cones on either side to designate the dog-friendly area, so be sure your canine comes when called and won't run off as there are no fences.

I took my Australian shepherd Pilgrim there two summers ago when a friend came in from Colorado with her dog, Hawkeye, and wanted to take her dog to the beach.

I'll never forget how thrilled Pilgrim was to be there -- up and down the shoreline he raced, practically smiling all the way as he felt the wet sand on his paws, sometimes chasing his ball, other times just enjoying the running for the heck of it. This was during the period when he was being treated for diabetes (insulin shots twice a day). Only a couple months later, in September 2007, he was struck with complications and I had to make that final decision to put him down (he was 8).

But I'll always be grateful he had that carefree afternoon at the Dog Beach. I still smile just thinking about the memory. I'm just sorry I didn't think to bring a camera that day.

So thanks, Justin, and the city of Long Beach.  

Check out the Dog Beach Zone web page to find out all the details, where to park, what the rules are -- and watch a fun video of Justin with his English Bulldog Rosie on the first day at dog beach.

Maybe I'll get there this summer again with Tess and/or Cowboy, my border collies.

(Pilgrim is shown below in his most humiliating moment ever, when I made him pose in a Santa hat for a Christmas ad in the now defunct publication More San Pedro.)