Thoughts on adopting a dog.

Meet Javiera. She was found inside a trash bag with her siblings on the outskirts of Mexico City. A guy that was walking by saw the bag filled with crying puppies and decided to take action. He took the puppies home and reached out to a popular IG account that helps animal rescuers find responsible owners to the dogs and cats they rescue from the streets. Rescuers call this: "help animals find their forever home".

The IG account mentioned is called Adoptist, run by Josune Luquin, a Spanish architect living in Mexico City. I started following Adoptist in the hopes of finding a rescue dog to bring home with me and my girlfriend. When Josune posted the photos of these rescued 2 month old puppies, we decided to go meet them and, of course, shortly after... Javiera was on her way home with us.

The difficulties of raising a puppy, as opposed to adopting a grown dog, became quickly evident. The crying, the pee, the poo, the diapers, the right bed, etc. It's a bunch of additional work to anyone's daily routine. Adopting a puppy is a decision that should not be taken lightly. However, these kind of decisions are usually taken with the heart, not the brain. And Javiera has found a permanent place in our hearts.

I recently spoke to Josune for the podcast. (You can listen here in Spanish: Episode 61.) She mentioned - among other things - how the number of dogs (and cats) being rescued has increased during Covid, but also the number of pets being abandoned. A lot of people are finding it hard to feed or take care of a pet during these financially difficult times. It really is an act of love to rescue and adopt an animal that has been abandoned to die in the streets. This is just one of the many heart-breaking things that are going on in the world. But it's people like Josune, and the guy who took the trash bag with puppies to his house, and the actions of many, many other people involved in animal rescue that make this world a better place to live in.

Javiera is sleeping next to me while I write this post and I can't help but wonder where would she be had she'd been found by another person, or not found at all. Our luck in life is greatly influenced by tiny actions we and others take. Javi and all of her sisters + 1 brother have been adopted into loving homes. These dogs were rescued, but as dogs do, they are also ready to save us back when needed.

Welcome home, Javi.