A mass for a dog

An old Irish farmer lived alone in the countryside with a pet dog which was his only company. He loved the good old animal very much, and he was very sad when one day the poor thing died. So he went to the nearest church and asked the priest to celebrate his poor friend’s funeral.

“Father,” he said, “my dear old dog is dead. Could you be saying a mass for the creature?”

“I am very sorry to hear about your dog’s death,” was the priest’s reply, “but, unfortunately we cannot hold services for animal in this church. However, there’s a new temple down the road. I don’t exactly know what they believe in, but maybe they’ll do something for the animal.”

The farmer said, “Ok, thank you Father. I’ll go to the temple right now… and by the way, do you think 500 pounds is enough to donate for the service?”

At these words the Father said, “My son! Why didn’t you tell me the dog was Catholic?!”