Ritual blessings with companion animals

This research focuses on the blessing of animals. Blessings are a form of human-animal shared experience that manifests a belief in animal spirituality. Using a multi-method approach, this article investigates the presence of themes that previous research has identified on animal companions. The present study identifies new themes in the context of human-animal sharing experiences by focusing on a recurring ritual blessing event over a six-year period. Ritual blessings reflect the animal companion-consumer relationship lifecycle, particularly the consumption and disposition stages. The emotional bonds between humans and their companion animals affect many consumption-related lifestyle, diet, leisure, and healthcare decisions.