It sadly happens, over and over again, in our nation. And I’ve sadly seen the dire results, many times before. A certain breed of dog becomes ‘fashionable’ and a ‘must have,’ either after some idolized celebrity purchases one, or a movie about them becomes popular.
It sadly happened after One Hundred and One Dalmatians came out. Scores of people soon rushed off to puppy mill pet stores for that expensive, ‘must have’ pure-bred, Dalmatian. And very sadly, within a few months, these ‘must have’ dogs were being very callously dumped at animal shelters all across the nation.
“Oh, it just didn’t work out,” the animal shelter employee would hear. Or, “these dogs require more care than I ever realized,” or, even worse: “The novelty with my kids has completely worn off; we just don’t want this dog anymore.”
And, it recently happened again, after Beverly Hills Chihuahua hit the big screen. “Oh, aren’t they adorable! Let’s go get one!!” “Oh, look how cute they are! I don’t care what they cost, our kids will love one!”
And, of course, people again flocked to the expensive puppy mill pet stores to buy Chihuahuas, at exorbitant prices.
And, of course, within a few months, our animal shelters were now overflowing with hundreds of Chihuahuas, which were no longer wanted.
And right now in our nation, especially in the state of California, hundreds of these dogs need new homes.
Luckily for some of them, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is once again helping out, as they always do for America’s pets; and they are helping to get them shipped out to other places, for hopefully an adoption, and a real, loving home.
On January 6th, the ASPCA Adoption Center in New York welcomed 15 Chihuahuas that had been flown from California to the Big Apple in search of new, forever, loving homes. These 15 dogs originated from the City of San Francisco Animal Care & Control, and their in-cabin transportation was donated by Virgin Airlines.
After some post-travel rest and relaxation, these 15 pups will be made available for adoption next week at the ASPCA Center in Manhattan. And there are many other efforts underway to now find unwanted Chihuahuas new homes.
Thank God for animal welfare societies like the ASPCA. We should all be supporting their compassionate efforts.
And Thank God that there are still some compassionate souls left in our nation. A friend of mine recently found a tiny Chihuahua that had been dumped in a park. It was nearly frozen to death; but thankfully, she has now given him the home that he deserves.
Please don’t purchase a pet on a whim or a fad, especially from an expensive puppy mill pet store. Your purchase only causes more breeding, more cruelty, more abuse, and more abandonment.
If you really want a dog, please visit your local animal shelter; thousands of unwanted canines are languishing in America’s animal shelters right now.
And if you really want to spend $1,000 on a new dog; adopt one from a shelter for $100, and donate that extra $900 to an animal welfare organization like the ASPCA, so they can continue to help rescue, and find loving new homes, for many more, extremely loving, abandoned and abused pets.
Anna
Georg