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Chi-chi-wow-wow: Come and get one!
By Gina Spadafori
December 9, 2009
As Susan Fox noted elsewhere, thank you, Paris Hilton:
In what appears to be strictly a California phenomenon, Golden State animal shelters have been deluged with Chihuahuas. The trembling, pop-eyed canines have replaced pit bulls as the dogs most likely to turn up at the pound.
[...]
Oakland’s shelter has so many Chihuahuas that staff members are arranging to charter a plane to airlift the petite pooches to other states, where small dogs are in demand. Volunteers have already driven more than 100 Chihuahuas to shelters in Oregon, Washington and Arizona.
[...]
The Bay Area is the envy of shelters around the country, where pit bulls still rule.
“I want your problem,” said Gail Buchwald, senior vice president of the ASPCA in New York City. “If you want to pack up a box of Chihuahuas and ship them here, I’d be thrilled.”
Small dogs stay at her shelter only a few days before they’re adopted, whereas pit bulls – which make up 95 percent of the shelter dogs – can stay for a month or longer.
Chihuahuas also tend to be quickly adopted in the Bay Area, although it can be difficult to find homes for the dozens that turn up in shelters every day.
Read the rest, at SFGate.com.
***
Meanwhile: The war of words between HSUS alpha wolf Wayne Pacelle and no-kill firebrand Nathan Winograd gets hotter still. Pacelle starts the latest round with a post that lauds the important people of the no-kill movement, pointedly omitting Winograd. (Or more likely he’s mentioned under “… despite the shrill efforts of a few no-kill advocates whose work has retarded the progress of that cause by alienating so many people… ” )
Winograd fires back, with the facts. The short version, my take: Winograd is a game-changer who is threatening to upset the apple-cart of a shelter industry that finds it easier to kill, kill, kill and point the finger elsewhere. He is forcing the HSUS to change its language, if not its behavior, and now that they’re doing so, they’re going to take the credit for leadership — credit they don’t deserve.
Taking the credit for the leadership and work of others … where … have … we .. seen … that … before?
As for the HSUS. Mr. Pacelle needs to clean up its act, and fast. Two acts of shameless deception in a week gives even those of us inclined to note the progress of this organization reason to pause. Update: More on the KC Dog Blog.
With regards to the first such, ads with the mutilated face of Fay (not Faye) are now in fund-raising ads popping up all over Facebook.
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I’d like to know why the chihuahuas are being returned. If a chihuahua is not trained, they can be little terrors. I’ve had 2 (1 alive, 1 deceased) with unknown histories. Both have similar characteristics: they tend to attach to one person, are unafraid of other dogs, don’t know they’re small, and they can be yappy. I love both of them any way since, once they trust you, they are incredibly loyal. Are the glut of chis the result of the recession? Too bad; chihuahuas don’t eat much and are quite hardy. Good thing other places will take the overflow. Let’s hope the owners educate themself on the breed first.
Comment by perkysmom — December 9, 2009 @ 8:13 am
do we all need to become “friends” of the HSUS to expose their lies on FB? I wonder how long such comments would remain?
Comment by EmilyS — December 9, 2009 @ 8:24 am
Kindred Spirits - in Vista, CA - is seeing more and more Chihuahuas in our classes and we’re often told, “This is the dog’s last chance! He gets trained or else!”
Obviously it’s not the dog’s fault.
It most cases the dog hasn’t had any training, is spoiled rotten, isn’t housetrained, can’t walk on a leash, bites, and barks.
Then we have the challenging job of changing the owner’s perceptions as we teach both dog and owner.
Comment by Liz Palika — December 9, 2009 @ 9:50 am
I’ve never owned a Chi but my girlfriend has and hers was untrained and a terror - would hide under the bed when he didn’t want to be caught - a nightmare, also spoiled rotten from being treated like a baby instead of a “dog”. I always had the impression they were hard to train. I tried to train hers but gave up.
Comment by Snoopys Friend — December 9, 2009 @ 10:00 am
I was able to train both of my chihuahuas - to come and sit and walk nicely on the leash. It took time and food was the great motivater.
Comment by perkysmom — December 9, 2009 @ 10:20 am
Poor Chi-hooa-hooas (anyone else remember WKRP?). I find it amazing how many people think tiny dog=toy. They’re then surprised when their toy also bites, eats their stuff, and poops on their duvet. We see it all time with Frenchies, unfortunately.
As for Wayne and HSUS? I admire your support of them, Gina, but isn’t it apparent by now what lies behind their so called ‘good intentions’? They have perpetuated so many frauds in the name ‘saving animals’ that I now equate them with a glossier equivalent of those “adopt my nigerian puppy’ scams. I don’t TRUST them, and I don’t like their politics.
And Wayne Pacelle? I don’t think he DOES mean well. I think he means pretty much what I think of as the ‘opposite’ of well, at least when it comes to animal welfare.
You say “why is anyone still listening to Peta?”, and I say “Why is anyone still giving money to H$U$?”.
Comment by FrogDogz — December 9, 2009 @ 10:22 am
“I want your problem,” said Gail Buchwald, senior vice president of the ASPCA in New York City. “If you want to pack up a box of Chihuahuas and ship them here, I’d be thrilled.”
I want all shelters to have to close their doors ‘cause there aren’t any unwanted pets.
Every shelter’s long-term goal should be to close themselves down for lack of need.
Comment by Janeen — December 9, 2009 @ 10:41 am
Did I not mention that the missing Chi-hooa-hooa appeared to be the State Dog Of California, after perusing some CA Craig’s List lost and found sections? I don’t think I have EVER seen one listed as lost or found here. (Ma’am, did you check the sofa cushions?)
Despite what the ASPCA lady thinks, these dogs are not easy to place. Lots of people WANT them, but that doesn’t mean they are a no-brainer to place so that they don’t boomerang back right away, or get passed on further down the food chain of novelty owners. Especially when they are already snappy, spoiled, neglected, and completely unhousebroken.
Say, here’s a thought, FrogDogz — maybe people think tiny dog = toy because the kennel clubs actually formally CALL THEM “toy dogs.”
Comment by H. Houlahan — December 9, 2009 @ 11:04 am
I couldn’t coax my friends Chi out from under the bed or the couch - not even with food -he finally ended up with a different owner and from there who knows what. I’ve read where the small Chi’s have a lot of health problems - and can be very skittish - are easily injured. Poor little creatures.
Comment by Snoopys Friend — December 9, 2009 @ 11:34 am
I do know it’s as much the problem of the owner as the breed, but I have met only one Chihuahua in my entire life I would have actually enjoyed having around.
That one was owned by a dog-trainer who knew what she was doing. The dog was a long-haired Chi, a great little trick-performer and therapy dog. But of course, Chiquita was NEVER allowed to become a nasty little shit, and was always given work to do.
Oh, and Carol, you are so kind, saying, “I admire your support …” when what you really mean is, “when are you going to get it into your little pinhead that …”
LOL! And believe me, that’s about the nicest anyone has been to me on the subject of the HSUS in a very, very long time. Apparently the discussion on certain e-mail lists has been quite, er, graphic, with regards to my being a sekrit animal rights operative. I do have to wonder how many members of sleeper cells have actual hunting retrievers, freezers full of meat (albeit from animals sustainably raised and humanely dispatched) and donate to Heifer International and Ducks Unlimited, but not to the HSUS.
Of course, I still don’t give a rat’s ass about what the black helicopter folks think. I call it as I sees it, on both sides. Right now, any progress the HSUS has made seems to be backsliding, seriously. I watch for further developments …
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 9, 2009 @ 11:46 am
RE The recent Chihuahua glut in California: A lot of us saw this coming years ago as the logical outcome of the fad of people getting “purse pets” without realizing they were real live animals with real live needs and real live lifespans (often 12-14 years). The fad runs its course - as we knew it would - and now here are all these poor discarded and untrained dogs as fallout. One of those times when saying “I told you so” is decidedly LESS than gratifying.
RE Wayne-boy taking credit for “No-Kill”: Gina, remember Karen Pryor’s “On Being A Changemaker” (that link that I can never get to post)?
This seems pretty classic . . . . . . . . . . .
Comment by The OTHER Pat — December 9, 2009 @ 11:49 am
My Remy”s pretty good. He has his bad habits just like the bigger 2,but we hold him to the same rules. They are harder to train though & mostly not so good with kids or strangers. They definitely don’t know they are small & will go after bigger dogs if allowed to. I think people get them expecting it to be easier than a bigger dog & aren’t willing to spend the needed time training them & dealing with the problems tiny size brings.
Comment by Leslie K — December 9, 2009 @ 11:54 am
Pat, Pat, Pat … I was ALMOST going to ask you to post the Pryor information, but … I figgered everyone would know it by now!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 9, 2009 @ 11:57 am
Say, here’s a thought, FrogDogz — maybe people think tiny dog = toy because the kennel clubs actually formally CALL THEM “toy dogs.”
Good point. I think most of the AKC nomenclature is fairly idiotic, of course, and I do agree that the ‘toy’ designation is quite harmful.
I do my absolute level best to DISSUADE people from getting a Frenchie. They fight, they fart, they’re as bullheaded as it comes, and they eat shoes (mainly the really *expensive* ones). Pickle, for example, decided to express her opinion about me being online instead of doing table training with her by knocking over the water dish and smacking around in it with her paws. Seriously, they’re little monsters.
I sometimes think we breeders need to do more to hammer the really crappy stuff about our breeds into people’s head. Then, if you’re dumb enough to still get one, at least we can shrug and say ‘well, we told you so’.
And Gina, I do admire you for trying to be level headed about HSUS. Now if they’d only do something to make themselves *worthy* of that support, instead of repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot.
Comment by FrogDogz — December 9, 2009 @ 5:29 pm
I knew the little dog as fashion accessory had gone too far when I was in the State Department Store in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (think a smaller version of Macy’s - cosmetics/perfume on the ground floor,etc.) in 2006 and spotted a young woman with a tiny dog tucked into her arm a la Paris. This in a country where five bucks is still more than most people can afford to pay for lunch. Probably a gov’t minister’s daughter or some such who got it on a shopping trip to Beijing.
The small dogs started coming into our county shelter in noticeable numbers a year or so ago,
some chi-h-hs, but also Jack Russells (what were they thinking?), poms, fox terriers and miniature poodle whatzits.
Wayne needs to find another line of work, maybe as a PR flack for the Republicans or Sarah. Truth doesn’t seem to be a priority with too many of them, or her, these days either.
Comment by Susan Fox — December 9, 2009 @ 6:28 pm
Less than a year ago, at the Sundance Film Festival, the Humane Society of the United States gave Paris Hilton an award for her support of their “Save the Seals” campaign. This honor came just after Paris donated $100,000 to HSUS. I originally read about this on Deceiver.com (“One Night in Paris’s Animal World, January 21). That hilarious piece links to People Magazine’s report on the award and a longer Examiner article “Humane Society Awards Paris Hilton at Sundance Festival and Thanks Her For Her Support.”
Deceiver also exposed the long-time former CEO of HSUS, televangelist Paul G Irwin, after he was fired from his new gig running the American Bible Society for doing business with a convicted thief and pornography kingpin. Irwin brought Wayne Pacelle to the Humane Society in 1994 and the rest is history.
Comment by sara — December 11, 2009 @ 3:17 pm
People who think pet-lovers are only about the fuzzy need to note the continuation of this discussion over on the KC Dog Blog, including this particularly good snippet (by EmilyS, who comments here pretty regularly):
“… I’m really sure Pacelle is to Winograd as Palin is to Rand.”
Here.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 14, 2009 @ 10:10 am