following through

i've been the proud owner of santos for about 32 months now. i adopted him about a week after i graduated from college from the local spca. i have no doubt that he would have been saved by someone else if not by me, as he was by far the cutest animal there. which in turn, made him perfect for me.

adopting him was a bit of a hassle, and it almost didn't happen. this is because virginia has a rule that dogs must be neutered or spayed before they can be adopted and removed from the county. i wasn't going to be in town much longer, and if he couldn't be neutered that week i would have to leave him for the next lucky visitor. the spca brought him to the vet who initially said santos (then munch, how fucking lame of a name is that) was too young and his balls hadn't descended yet so he couldn't perform the procedure. but the spca obviously has an interest in finding good homes for the animals, so they brought him back at the end of the week and the vet determined that he could be neutered, and he was. so with a little paperwork and a fee of about $130, he was mine.

santos was a hit at the spca despite the fact that he was only there for about 2 weeks. all the workers loved him, both because of his interesting coloring and his friendly and playful demeanor. they asked me, and i promised, to send them pictures of santos once he grew up to full size so they could see what he looked like. this was something that has occasionally crossed my mind in the last 2 years, but i hadn't acted on. until today.

i emailed 3 pictures of adult santos to the spca this afternoon. i got an almost immediate response from a woman who says she worked there in 2004 and remembers santos. she said she will try to locate a picture of him from back then and email it to me. i hope she finds one.

i dont often feel any obligation to do anything for anyone outside my good friends and family, but over the years i've felt one to do this. it never made me feel too guilty, but when i would remember it, it felt like a nagging feeling. the workers made a lot of effort to help me adopt santos, and for that i've always been grateful. today, i finally finished what i had to do.