California Animal Shelters' Plague: Not A Rain Of Frogs, But A Rain Of Chihuahuas

Dog owners and animal control workers show off Chihuahuas that have deluged the Bay Area's animal shelters at the Animal Control and Care center in San Francisco on Wednesday.  Credit: Russel A. Daniels / AP
Dog owners and animal control workers show off Chihuahuas that have deluged the Bay Area's animal shelters at the Animal Control and Care center in San Francisco on Wednesday. Credit: Russel A. Daniels / AP

By Lindsay Barnett For Los Angeles Times

Representatives from a half-dozen Bay Area animal shelters and rescue groups joined forces at a press conference Wednesday to draw attention to an increasingly large problem facing a tiny breed of dog: the humble Chihuahua.

According to the group, the Chihuahua conundrum — a shocking surplus of them flooding the state’s stretched-thin shelters — has gotten out of control. They place the blame, or at least a large part of it, on the breed’s strange status as a pop-culture icon. Famous Chihuahuas — from Paris Hilton’s Tinkerbell to Bruiser, the pink-clad accessory of Reese Witherspoon’s “Legally Blonde” character, from the recently departed Taco Bell Mascot, Gidget, to Chloe, the star of last year’s “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” — are everywhere. And their high profile means an increase in the number of puppies being bred for the pet market, many by breeders either unscrupulous or simply ill-prepared.

It’s a recipe for disaster, and the disaster is now coming to fruition. “All the shelters in California are seeing an upswing in Chihuahua impounds,” Deb Campbell, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco animal care and control department, told our colleague Maria L. La Ganga in an interview. “It’s been a slow and steady climb… We call it the Paris Hilton syndrome.”

Here in L.A., shelter staffers agree that the number of owners surrendering their Chihuahuas has reached a fever pitch. It “stands to reason we would see higher numbers of in our two pet adoption centers,” spcaLA president Madeline Bernstein notes, because the breed is L.A.’s most popular (at least according to statistics available from license registrations in the city). “What’s alarming is how quickly the numbers are rising; about 100 more Chihuahuas came through our doors this year than last.”

In Northern California, the numbers are just as staggering, if not more so; currently, a third of San Francisco’s canine shelter residents are either Chihuahuas or Chihuahua mixes. Officials fear that that number could quickly increase to 50% of impounds if things don’t change over the next few months. At San Mateo’s Peninsula Humane Society, “the number of Chihuahuas has eclipsed pit bulls as the most common breed,” Senior Vice President Scott Delucchi told La Ganga.

California’s Chihuahua glut is far from the rest of the country’s norm; “bully breeds,” which also make up a sizable chunk of California shelter populations, far outnumber the tiny breeds in most U.S. shelters. “I want your problem,” Gail Buchwald, senior vice president of the ASPCA in New York City, told the San Francisco Gate. “If you want to pack up a box of Chihuahuas and ship them here, I’d be thrilled.”

Recently, a large financial contribution from a Hollywood star made just such an idea possible for 25 Chihuahuas from L.A.’s city shelters. Katharine Heigl, whose Jason Debus Heigl Foundation (named for her late brother) rescues dogs in danger of euthanasia, ponied up $25,000 to fly the little dogs from L.A. to the Humane Society for Greater Nashua (HSGN) in New Hampshire.

“The response has been phenomenal,” HSGN executive director Karen Bill told PeoplePets of the “imported” Chihuahuas. “We had more than 40 voicemails from families inquiring about these dogs.”

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
kathylacoss
kathylacoss
14 years ago

I heard about this on the radio in NW Indiana. How doe's one go about adopting one, incase the readers are interested?

Dog Gifts
14 years ago

Let's hope Paris does the decent thing and makes a – private – sizeable donation to help alleviate the suffering she – inadvertently – has contributed to.
PS Kenn
I've never met a 'humble' Chihuahua yet!

Dog Gifts
14 years ago

Let's hope Paris does the decent thing and makes a – private – sizeable donation to help alleviate the suffering she – inadvertently – has contributed to.
PS Kenn
I've never met a 'humble' Chihuahua yet!

SUBSCRIBE TO
DOG FILES

Top Posts

More Articles...

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x

Why haven't You Signed up For our Newsletter?

Find out why over 8000 Dog lovers have already Joined!

Receive our newsletter, get special deals & stay updated.