Opinion: I Went to the SPCA and Came Home With 24 Toes

In 2023, I adopted my cat, Beans, from the Wellington SPCA. I had moved to Wellington from the United States the year before, and adopting her felt like a way to mark my first anniversary in the city. Wellington was beginning to feel less like somewhere I was temporarily living and more like somewhere I could build a future.With all my family still in the United States, I wanted a companion. A pet seemed like the closest thing to having family here. I was drawn to cats because they are relative