mylilangel58/Flickr
As we reported recently, the Grey's Anatomy star donated $25,000 -- via her charity organization the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation -- to fly 25 lap dogs from Los Angeles to Nashua, N.H. The transfer is an attempt to get the dogs to a part of the country with a high demand for small dogs, but little supply.
It turns out that Los Angeles isn't the only California city dealing with high numbers of small dogs -- the entire state is affected. Last week San Francisco's Animal Care and Control hosted a press event to draw attention to their own tiny problem -- chihuahuas.
"A year and a half ago we started to see an increase in chihuahuas coming to the shelter, either as stray dogs or surrendered by their owners," SF AC&C spokesperson Deb Campbell tells Paw Nation. "It's been a steady increase since then. We've never seen this before with chihuahuas." In years past, the shelter always had an overabundance of pit bulls and pit-bull mixes. Chihuahuas were rare, Campbell tells Paw Nation. "They would be adopted out immediately."
The overall consensus among shelters and rescuers in California, along with the Humane Society of Greater Nashua, is that pop culture is to blame for this explosion. "People see little dogs as a nice Louis Vuitton handbag or beautiful Prada sunglasses," Campbell tells Paw Nation. "They're an accessory to a lot of people. They've seen starlets on TV, movies, and in magazines with these dogs, and so people bred to meet that demand. And they went overboard."
SF's AC&C held a press conference last Wednesday to introduce the public to the chihuahuas they currently have available -- one third of the 76 dogs the shelter is currently housing are chihuahuas or chihuahua mixes.
"There's a misconception that the stereotypical dog you're going to find at the animal shelter is a big, bruiser mutt," Campbell tells Paw Nation. But that's changed since the press event. "We've seen a lot of new faces over the weekend, people who haven't been to shelters before but have come because they've realized you can adopt a small dog."
Campbell told Paw Nation that the AC&C has also looked into transferring the dogs to locations where the breed is in demand, but logistics and finances have become an issue. "There are volunteer organizations like Pilots N Paws that help with animal airlift situations, but it's a matter of finding a big enough plane, the right amount of people to help, or someone to step forward and help charter a plane."
The SF AC&C is only one of many shelters around the state that are having the same problem, says Campbell. "It's nice to know that there are homes out there that want these dogs, but it's hard to think that we can't get them to those people."
Related Videos
More Cute Stuff
- Lion Love (Daily Squee)
- This Cat Means Business (I Can Has Cheezburger)
- Zebra Tan! (I Has a Hotdog)
- Cat Guys or Dog Guys? (Petside)
- Reducing your Carbon Paw-Print (Discovery)
Sponsored Links
Add your comments
Advertisement
Time-Lapse Tortoise Noms Salad
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE JUST DO NOT WISH TO GET THERE DOGS FIXED! THERE ARE TO MANY DOGS BEING BREEDED. ALOT OF PEOPLE THINK IT IS A WAY TO MAKE MONEY, SO AFTER THE WIND UP HAVING TO SPEND SO MUCH, IN THE ND IT IS NOT WORTH THE TIME AND EFFORT. BESIDE THAT ALOT OF FOLKS ARE ADOPTING, AND YOU CANNOT EVEN GIVE THAT POOR PU AWAY. THE ONLY ANSWERE IS TO GET HIM OR HER FIXED. STOP WITH EVERYONE IS A BREEDER.
I agree completely......breeders need to be put out of business. Dogs are meant to be companions, not accessories. There are so many animals out there that need a good home, it doesn't make any sense why ANYONE would pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars for a "purebred" dog. Sadly, it's not just limited to dogs....visit any shelter, and you'll find several cats as well as other animals, too.
the reason people are allowed to breed so many dogs is the fact that it is big buisness in killing them and making dog food or other animal food out of the euthinized dogs and cats ......shark food ....pig food .....tiger food ect.....the fact is that the powers that be are allowing the over breeding of animals because there is big bucks in killing them..........or should I say big big bucks......
Im looking for one wish i was there!
TO DEE,
THANK YOU DEE FOR YOUR COMMENT, AND EMAIL. YOU ARE SO RIGHT.
SORRY ABOUT MY SPELLING THERE, I SHOULD OF CHECK IT. CHAT ANYTIME.
FOLKS, REALLY, THERE IS NO MONEY IN BREEDING, IF IT IS DONE PROPERLY. THINK BEFORE YOU BREED YOUR DOG!
K.C
This really is a tragedy. As a chihuahus, I am sick over what has happened out in California. People need to be responsible and fix their dogs.
i agree with controlled breeding but stopping total breeding would soon make dogs and other animals extinct
you are completely wrong with that statement. Stopping breeders wouldn't make animals go extinct, because there are multi-millions on the streets breeding on their own. Many studies are showing that stopping breeding would cut numbers down in shelters, which also means lowering the number of euthanasias. Those same studies also indicate that if breeding were to cease all-together, it would still take quite a number of decades to get overpopulation under control.
This is sad but true. I just moved to Cali a few months ago and got a chihuahua at the shelter..you'd be suprised how many there are there. It's so sad because you just want to take them all but you can't :( Most of them are abused also, and the shelters don't rehabilitate them...I know because they were going to euthanize my little baby and she is a really good dog who was just severly abused.
Come here to get little dogs! People breed too many and then leave them on the streets to die.
The word is "California". "Cali" is a drug cartel in Mexico.
im not a chihuahua person but this is totally wrong. its caused by backyard breeders who are just out to make a profit. i used to live by a backyard breeder who's chihuahua would have puppies pretty often and then there were the people who lived next to them who refused to get their female cat spayed so the local tomcat would impregnate her frequently and cats would be everywhere and on top of that they wouldnt feed their cats. Unfortunately animal control wouldnt take the animals away either. there were a couple of good neighbors who had animals that were fixed, thank god for those with common sense
Acually Matt # 8,,,Cali is a town in Colombia,S.A.. Where drug cartells operated from in the past. No where near Mexico. And alot of people refer to California as Cali.
I am anguished that there are so many people who don't care about their precious little Chihuahuas. I almost ran over one in a posh neighborhood on day. I stopped my car just in time, opened up my car door, and this precious little Chihuahua looked up at me with a bewildered little face, and jumped up on my lap. I parked my car on the sidewalk, and started knocking door to door, until someone opened their door, and I gave them my phone #, so that once the Chihuahua's owner could be located, they could call me for the Chihuahua. Three weeks later a twenty yr. old girl with a small toddler called me, and told me, the dog "had escaped" through the back door, and, that if I wanted to, I could keep him. That poor dog was nothing but skin and bones. She told me, I could have it. That was 6 yrs. ago, and that has been the best little dog I've ever had. He's so full of love, he's the best little dog I've ever had. He went from 3 1/2 lbs. up to 6 1/2 lbs., and he's very happy and healthy. He may be a small little dog still, but he's got a heart of pure gold. I named him Tako, and he's happy and playful, and loves everyone that he comes in contact with. And, believe me I treasure him and watch him like a hawk. He's a real blessing. My prayers go to those precious Chihuahuas in San Francisco that are stranded in small tiny craters. I pray that qualified and consciencious people are feeding them and taking them out for exercise. I believe that if enough word and publicity goes out, via TV, Radio, and Newspapers,enough people could get together and gather enough money to fly them safely to Nahua, NH. In the meantime, I pray that those little Chihuahuas are being well taken care of, that the proper people are giving them good care, and will not neglect or abuse them in any way, shape or form.
Smaller dogs (the ones that fit so nicely into carry-all bags and cute little clothes) aren't quite so easy to housebreak. They don't always blend well with children in a family (my cousin had two chihuahuas who'd just as soon bite a small child as bark--and they did a lot of barking, too). They are expensive to maintain as they need a lot of veterinary services. Purebreds are usually rather highly strung, so to speak.
People get a pup because it is cute. They don't have their animals spayed or neutered. When it turns out to be more work and expense than a child and more prolific than a rabbit, they dump it on Animal Control.
And Puppy Mills are the worst. They breed dogs indiscriminately. They don't check bloodlines for genetic problems. And they don't care for the dogs properly while they are in their "kennels."
People should be forced to have their animals neutered or spaded there are so many animals out there and people think they are cute when they are young and then get rid of them. I am sick and tired of animals being abused, people need to adopt from shelters where they have to be fixed before you take them or proven to be fixed if they are too young at the time. Otherwise they can and will be taken away.And it is not just animals it is people men and women who should be fixed. To many people have children just to stay on welfare and collect money and most of the time do not take care of their children only themselves. People on welfare should be forced to be sterilized so they cannot have more than one child unless they can prove that they can get a job and make money and stop depending on taxpayers like me to pay the bill. Nobody helped me and I have five children my husband and i did it ourselves.Welfare should be used only for people who really need it like veterans,,elderly who need help but not young people who are to lazy to work.
#16 Heidi i agree re the spay and neuter. BREEDERS SHOULD BE LIMITED !!!!!!!!! PEOPLE THAT LET THEIR UNFIXED CATS OR DOGS RUN THE STREETS SHOULD BE FINED IF ANIMAL CONTROL COMES ACROSS THEM. ALSO IF THE ANIMAL HAS NO TAGS !!!!! Re the welfare stuff, you wrote the magic word "husband". How would you manage without him? Not to offend but i guess you have money and health insurance. Single women on welfare that do keep on having kids should be limited and cut off.
there is law where I live that every dog or cat in a shelter. Before it can go to a new home the animal has to go to the vet first to get neutered or spayed. And then I picked up my new dog from the vet and drove him home.
Sheila-- Your right I agree people should be cut off from welfare after my first husband and i divorced I raised my three children by myself and they turned out wonderful, I met a wonderful man the second time and got married and we have two more children and we have raised all five together. But I always worked and never took handouts. Welfare is meant for the needy and there are too many people on it that abuse it because they are to lazy to work and feel that they can do whatever they want. I am sick of paying for these people. And people should be forced to have their animals fixed we would not have the problem we have today if they had to do it.
What a stupid and nasty comment that is,it just goes to show your so called intelligence.
#14 Big Joe- I have a better idea....why doesn't someone put you on a barge and ship your dumba$$ out to the middle of the ocean. Sounds to me like the human population would probably be alot better off without dimwits like you!
#17 Sluggo....I think you should join Big Joe on the Barge out to the middle of the ocean. I have two toy Chihuahuas and already I can tell that they have more brains than you two f**kheads put together!