Photo by Danielle DeLeon from Wikipedia Commons
I told you all a few weeks ago about the glut of chihuahuas at California shelters and rescues. Like so many dogs in the past, this breed was made insanely popular due to movies about the tiny canines and celebrity attention to the breed. Breeders then over produce puppies in an attempt to cash in on the popularity. The problem is, as always, the puppies grow and don’t turn out to be quite like the movie dogs and soon supply outstrips demand. So they end up in shelters or rescues.
California animal workers have been working to relocate some of the shelter chihuahuas to other locations. In most areas small breeds are adopted almost as soon as they are eligible to be taken. So relocating some of the chihuahuas would give them a much better chance of finding forever homes.
This afternoon two flights from San Francisco will be landing in New York City with a total of fifteen chihuahuas on board. They will be going to local rescues and will be eligible for adoption on January thirteenth. Because of the shortage of small dogs at the New York rescue centers, it is assumed these diminutive pups will be quickly adopted into loving homes. The ASPCA hopes to form a long term agreement with an airline to continue “Operation Chihuahua Airlift.”
You can see pictures of the dogs that were airlifted as well as a video about the project at the link below.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/01/06/state/n073826S21.DTL#ixzz0brBS8lPL
Fluffy feet wishes the best of luck to these little pooches and we hope for many more flights in the future. This is such a good example of what can be done when people work together to help animals, lets hope it inspires more people to take action.
