Pulled from Yahoo news and written by Sue Manning

Pop culture main reason Calif has Chihuahua crisis!

LOS ANGELES – California has more Chihuahuas than it can handle, and it has Hollywood to blame.

There are so many Chihuahuas at shelters in Oakland, they have started shipping the dogs out of state, said Megan Webb, director of Oakland Animal Services. They have sent about 100 to Washington, Oregon and Arizona, she said, “and as soon as they get them, they are ready for new ones.”

Chihuahuas make up 30 percent or more of the dog populations at many California shelters. And experts say pop culture is to blame, with fans immitating Chihuahua-toting celebrities like Paris Hilton and Miley Cyrus, then abandoning the dogs.

The problem appears to be specific to California — shelters elsewhere would love to share the wealth, said Gail Buchwald, senior vice president overseeing the ASPCA adoption center in New York City.

“We never have enough supply for the huge consumer demand for small dogs,” she said.

One of Webb’s biggest problems is a lack of money to fly the dogs to other states. Buchwald said she would be happy to help.

“Nothing is outside the realm of possibility here. We have a supply-demand isssue,” she said.

Chihuahuas are the most popular breed of dog in Los Angeles, so it makes sense it is the most abandoned breed, said Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles. In Oakland, some days, they get 10 of the 5-pound dogs a day, Webb said.

The problem is so bad that shelters all over California that were built for big dogs had to remodel to accommodate the little guys.

Among the reasons for the glut is the breed’s popularity in movies like “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” and as celebrity pets, said Dave Frangipane, senior coordinator for Chihuahua Rescue of Beverly Hills. A cute puppy can grow up to have adult health problems or become protective and aggressive.

There are less glamorous reasons, too, like the high vet bills Chihuahuas can bring. And the biggest spikes in California Chihuahua populations are probably due to puppy mills and backyard breeders, Buchwald and Frangipane said.

Chihuahas are cute, but vulnerable, Frangipane said. “People think nothing of kicking a small, yappy dog. And they can be abused by people of all sizes. A toddler can snap a Chihuahua’s leg in a second,” he said.

Dealing with August Heat & Humidity

How do your animals handle the intense heat and humidity of summer? Yes, normally August is hot hot hot and we should all be used to it by now, however this year we have had such crazy weather patterns here in the northeast. Between the weeks of rain in June and July, and this very high percentage sticky humidity with highs in the low 90’s…it has gotten unbearable at times!

I live in CT and currently have two dogs and three horses.  While we keep the dogs mostly in our house which is air conditioned, we also have a little kiddie pool out in the yard that they like to ‘dip’ in occasionally to cool off.  We keep our walks and car rides to a minimum and the trips to the lake to swim frequent, and there is always a full bowl of nice cold water for them to drink. Our dogs seem to not mind the heat under these circumstances, so summer is just another month for them.

As for the horses….it seems to be a different story lately. My horses usually spend all day outside grazing in the fields and then are in stalls overnight with hay. The stalls each have a fan for them overnight, so they stay nice and cool even when humid 24 hours of the day. I have friends that switch it up in the summer and turn their horses out during the nighttime and keep them in during the day while it is this hot….however, I live down the road from my horses and am a bit leery about them being out at night without any supervision…just in case!

Outside, they have a nice big run-in shed out in the field that was built ‘into the ground’ sort of speak, so it stays nice and cool. There is also a fan running all day in there to keep the air moving and the bugs out.  While the rest of the year, they are normally out in the field 90% of the daytime and in the run-in shed 10% of the daytime, I am finding that over the last few weeks of this hot/humid/sticky weather, they are spending just the opposite. That would be 90% IN the run-in shed and only 10% out in the field grazing! They hole themselves up in the nice cool shelter standing in front of the breeze from the fans, run out and eat some hay or graze for about 15 minutes, then run back into the run in shed!  Even they are ready for some rain and cool weather to show up!

They have a HUGE water trough right outside the run in that I keep filled with clean cold water for them to drink to keep them hydrated, and we fly spray like crazy this time of year to keep the bugs away….even though it doesn’t always work……and they each wear a fly mask as well. Beyond the fans and cool run-in shelter, we also do ‘hose-downs’ or baths during the hot day to keep them cool and comfortable.  Other than packing them up and moving to a cooler/drier climate every summer, this is the best I have thought of so far………  I am trying to make them as comfortable as possible.

Does anyone have any other great suggestions for how they deal with the heat and humidity of summer with their pets they would like to share? I am sure there are many things people do that work that I haven’t even thought of.

Until then…..bring on the Fall!!!

After losing Boo, we decided to get a new kitten. This time I was hoping for a girl. My college has a vet’s office on campus with pets available for adoption… but no kittens were available. I found the number of another shelter in a nearby town. I called that shelter and found out a litter of kittens had just been brought in and there was a “female” kitten available for adoption. When I arrived at the shelter to pick up the kitten, I was in utter dismay at the facilities. In the same room as the kitten was a whole wall of feral (stray) cats that were collected to be spayed and neutered. The floor was filthy and nothing seemed to be in order. When I looked into the cage, I saw the most adorable little black kitten who just looked at me with “her” big eyes… ears all perked up with the expression of “save me” written all over that endearing face. It was love at first sight. “She” was very tiny and looked as though she had not eaten in days. “She” was covered in muck and as soon as I picked “her” up, she curled on my shoulder and nuzzled into my neck for a nap. It felt like a sign that this kitten and I were meant to be together. Notice I keep saying “her” and” she” in quotation marks. More on that in a minute.

I immediately asked the woman how much I owed her so I could be on my way home with my new companion. I paid the woman and we were off. That afternoon I made an appointment for the next day to have her seen at my vet’s office, and gave her what I was sure was the first bath and real meal of her life. It became apparent that the kitten I had just adopted was not only malnourished, but was also 2 weeks younger than the pound claimed she was, making her only 4 weeks old, and she weighed only about a pound. I also realized that the animal shelter had not inspected this kitten very closely. “She” was not a she at all. She was a HE. I named him Mumble because this was a very boisterous kitty, mewing at me frequently. Mumble was a very happy kitten, running around like little kittens do, causing all sorts of mischief. I was thrilled with the newest addition to the family.