we found hotdog valentine on the cold streets of winter new york city on valentines day 2025. he barely reacted to our presence when we went to investigate, so we immediately knew something was wrong. unfortunately, the wild bird fund closed just as we found him. fortunately, we were near a petco and an emergency vet. unfortunately, neither of them could do anything for hotdog. fortunately, we got a box from petco and a bag of bird seed from the vet so i could take him home for the night and bring him to the wild bird fund in the morning.

isora told me not to name him. against my own will, it occured to me that valentine would be the perfect name for him. isora themself commented that he looked like a hotdog with how he was melting into my hand.

when hotdog and i got home, i set him up in the bathroom with a psuedo-nest box, water, and the bird seed. im not sure if he ate or drank any of it, but i hope he recognized what they meant. i could tell he was nervous around me (poor thing was a new york city pigeon after all), but he seemed to enjoy the scritches.

hotdog passed away early in the morning on febuary 15, 2025. at the end he was warm and likely more loved than he had ever been during his life.

i took him to the vet to get cremated. and today, it snowed.