To be up front, I do not live in what many would consider a nice neighborhood. There is a large crime problem, many of my neighbors are unhoused, and we are all low- to no-income people. 

Unfortunately, because of the rampant amount of people suffering from mental illnesses and addiction, we are stuck in a somewhat vicious cycle. 

That said, I love where I live. No one is any better or worse for living in this area. In the same way that all neighborhoods are, it’s just a group of people living in an area. And, like in all neighborhoods, there are a few people who take advantage of the good will and good nature of others. 

We do what we can to help each other out! And in the past few days, my house has taken on an unconventional arrangement.

Some of my unhoused neighbors and I were chatting about a week ago. They told us about their dog, a beautiful white pit bull, who has just had puppies. They had no idea what to do with these eight little dogs. They had too many mouths to feed as is, also having four kittens and two full-grown dogs. The sudden addition of eight was literally too much to handle. 

Our neighbors had already adopted some of the puppies out. They were much too young to be away from their mom, but it was a desperate situation. Our neighbors were trying to ensure the pups had the best quality of life they could.

And so … now I have two three-week old puppies.

In a house with five cats, one pit bull, and a snake. 

It was an insane choice, and not one without consequences. I have sacrificed every spare second I have for my puppies. I’m up with them every few hours at night for feedings, I’m constantly getting peed on, cleaning poop out of every corner of my home, spending more money than I have on them.

But I love them. And I’m going to take care of them as long as I possibly can. My wife and I named the brother and sister duo Pants and Macbeth, respectively. They are two adorable white pitties with black spots and already have hilarious personalities. Pants is a rough and tumble little explorer. He wants to get his nose in everything. Macbeth is a little diva. She needs to be held and coddled — specifically by me, no one else — or she will have a temper tantrum. 

The amount of time and energy we’ve put into research on how to best take care of our little mutts is … not insubstantial. I think I’ve applied all of the energy I’ve been putting into graduate school into research for the pups.

This is a strange and wild situation, but it is my situation.

And I will love these pups as long as they’ll let me.