Poet Nancy Berg, author of the Blue Light Award winning collection Oracles for Night-Blooming Eccentrics (2009), is shown in 2007 participating, in the rain, in a Blessing of the Animals parade in Los Angeles. The event has occurred annually for nearly eight years.

Nancy's chihuahua is named Billie. Berg, a recipient of the Pushcart Prize, wrote a poem called "Blessing of the Animals" that began with the lines:

"She may have been overdressed
for Holy Saturday on Olvera Street,
adorned, as she was,
in tie-dye, pink roses, and white chiffon,
but at home she slept in a
flower-decked shrine to the Sacred Mother,
and this was one devout chihuahua."

If you follow the link below and scroll down to a poem entitled The Smallest Dog in the World you'll be glad to have found out more about Billie.