One sunny summer day, my family sat around a table in a small restaurant near downtown Cozumel. We battled the heat while feasting on delicious seafood from the island and watching the Olympic swimming events.
Nothing was unusual until a beautifu,l small dog entered the restaurant searching for food. She wove around the tables until she reached ours and patiently sat, waiting for one of us to share our meal with her. I quickly noticed that she was a stray, as her hair was filthy, damaged, and covered with grime. Sadly, running across stray dogs downtown is not a rare incident. The sad reality of the island is that parts are teeming with abandoned dogs or dogs born in the streets; however, this dog was unique. She and my sister had a connection from the moment they made eye contact across the restaurant. The dog exuded so much innocence and playfulness, charming anyone who came across its path, so we gave it some of our food while she remained underneath our table during our meal.
By the time we finished eating, the dog was already playing with one of my flip-flops, and my sister, lying on the floor, was playing with her like it was her own. The dog, which we called "Manila," brought out so much compassion from my parents that they began to wonder about its potential home. It could have run away a few months beforehand or been in a neglectful home, alongside many other possibilities, but we felt obliged to help Manila somehow. We asked around the restaurant whether they had seen that dog before or had any idea about its potential owner. They knew nothing about her origins, and the absence of a collar indicated that Manila had no owner. Once we reached that conclusion, we knew we needed to leave her behind, but we were so charmed that we felt our hearts shatter into millions of pieces thinking about that innocent puppy living the rest of her days in the street. The guilt, without evidence of any owner and our passionate arguments, convinced my parents to adopt Manila and bring her back to Mexico City to a beautiful home.
As we drove to the closest veterinarian, Manila excitedly poked her head out of the car window with her tongue sticking out, and my sister fleshed out her last name to be "Como el Mango," which translates to "Manila like the Mango." Because it was a last-minute decision to take Manila to the vet, we did not realize that the vet was closing. Still, after we told her our story and that we left our phone numbers at the restaurant in case an owner showed up, she decided to open the veterinary and give us a free check-up alongside help with obtaining the necessary documents to fly Manila back to CDMX. She gave Manila deworming medicine and a few shots and tested whether she had fleas. There, we learned that Manila was approximately six months old and that we needed to shave all of her hair because of its damage.
After we agreed to return the following day, we took Manila to the hotel to feed her dog food and to swim in the sea with us. We hoped the seawater would help heal any wound and give us another chance to bond with sweet Manila. At first, she was hesitant to enter the water, but she quickly got used to swimming and swam with us until the tide began to rise. Then, we took her out of the sea to dry with us on the warm sand. We watched the sunrise together, and while getting ready for dinner, my father got a sudden message from the vet with a missing dog Facebook post published shortly after we left her office. We checked the image a hundred times, checking every minute detail, but it was clear that the dog had an owner. We contacted the owner through their social media and informed her of our whereabouts. I decided to spend my last few moments with Manila before her owner arrived, playing in my room.
Once the owner arrived, Manila, also known as "Canela," went to her rightful owner and consoled her tears. Seeing the owner reunite with her dog warmed my heart, no matter how much I bonded with Canela throughout the day. Thinking back on this day, I am proud to have helped that dog get healthy and find her home, and I am grateful for all the strangers who collaborated with our attempted adoption. The veterinarian did not need to treat Manila or make our visit free of charge, but she did it out of the goodness in her heart. The waiters went out of their way to help us determine whether she had an owner, even though they were misguided. Strangers helping strangers without recompense as incentives will never fail to inspire me whenever I feel down.