Puedo tomar una foto
I was sent to Puerto Rico to castrate a million dogs. Well. It was my job to take pictures. I learned to ask, Puedo tomar una foto? And the owners would preen and go Si, si. They were excited to show off their dogs. Some brought small wheelbarrows of puppies and asked everyone Do you want these, do you want these? Those puppies were so soaked in urine you could see it in their black fur. But the owners who preened weren’t like that. Their dogs were immaculate. They couldn’t afford a spay or neuter and that’s why they came to our free clinic. But hey, baths don’t cost anything, so they kept their dogs clean, plus dyed their hair fun colors and braided it and also gave their dogs names like Estrella and Martina and Lupe and Sarai. They painted their dogs’ toenails and swaddled them in blankets and rocked them like babies in the bleachers of the municipal stadium, waiting for free surgery.
I would give anything to trade places with them, these swaddled dogs. The block headed pits with chain collars you think are all boys until you see their nipples are pendulous and leaking recent milk. The endless chihuahuas bundled 10 at a time into kiddie pools lined with heating pads in the recovery unit. The giant huskies that scream when they wake up from anesthesia. The dogs rolled in strollers. The dogs wearing hoodies. I would trade places with them in no time at all. They are so perfectly loved. They do not have to worry. There is an understanding between them and their owners: I will give you absolutely every part of me to love, and I will love absolutely every part of you in return. And the owner does, the owner loves every part, even the uterus. The owner loves the uterus enough to know it needs to be scooped out.
I ask to take una foto and am granted and I see the dog is an all white German Shepherd wearing a steel muzzle. It has already received its pre-surgery sedative; its tongue lolls around its cage, it cannot keep its head up. It is wearing a sweater that says I Hunt With The Big Dogs. The photo turns out great. And I know I would kill to be this dog; barely conscious, mouth clamped shut, in line for sterilization, proof she is loved in every single way there is.