OWNERS of depressed dogs, cold-struck cats, and horses with hay-fever have been invited to a special faith healing session for their pets in Oxford.

The North Oxford Christian Spiritualist Church, in Middle Way, Summertown, will throw open its doors next month for a new spiritual surgery for lame or unhappy animals.

The church, which normally holds healing sessions for people in their congregation, felt there was a gap in the spiritual market and decided to extend its services to domestic pets and any other animals which would fit through the doors. The idea was the brainchild of Oxford Brookes University tutor and faith healer Humphrey Truswell, from Summertown.

He will be performing the first animal healing at the church on Saturday, April 25, with about four other healers.

He said: “I thought it would be a good idea, because I have an empathy with animals.

“Every time I’m with animals, particularly horses, I find myself running my hands through their hair or fur, and seeking out the scars or scabs or whatever they are.

“We thought we would open our session up to people and see if they want to bring their dog or cat, or whatever really, and we’ll see what we can do.”

According to the healers, people or animals become ill or in pain when their energy goes wrong.

To fix it, the healers channel energy from a higher power or being through their fingers to the problem area to restore the balance.

But according to Mr Truswell, being able to perform healings is not a God-given gift and can take years to cultivate.

He said: “It’s a long process. There’s a year’s training and then a two-year probation period, then you have to get special insurance to be able to carry out healings. But anyone can learn.”

Healer Ros Mackay, from Forest Hill, said: “The power isn’t coming from the healer, it’s just conducted through us.

“It’s exactly the same process for humans as animals.

“I’ve performed healings on my cat Pickles before.

“She had a really bad abscess on her tail and when I took her to the vet she told me she’d have to have a tailectomy, which removes a part of the tail.

“I didn’t want that, so I performed some healing on her and when I took her back, the vet couldn’t believe it, her tail was cured.”

Jane Blain, from Eynsham, practises as a holistic healer and will also be at the church. She regularly performs healing on her dogs, Coco, Heidi and Sam.

She said: “We’re all just animal lovers and thought it would be a good idea.

“We’re not going to ask people to book, they can just turn up.”

The animal healing sessions will be held free of charge, but donations are welcomed at the session, which will run from 10am to 2pm.

awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk