Dogs Rescued Get New Home!

FAST FACTS:

* Dogs Rescued From Suspected Mississippi Puppy Mill To Get New Homes
* Some Flew To New York
* Others Taken To Atlanta Humane Society

(Olive Branch, MS 02/07/2010) It’s an exciting day for the folks watching this plane leave from the Olive Branch airport. Inside are over 30 of the dogs they rescued from a suspected puppy mill in Marshall County, Mississippi.

Just days ago, 95 dogs and a cat were found living in deplorable conditions. Many were malnourished with skin conditions. Investigators also found several dead dogs on the property but there’s hope for the surviving animals.

“It’s been a very special few days to see them go from pretty deplorable conditions to happy. They’re getting better, skin conditions getting better. Now, they have a bright future ahead of them,” said Kelley Weir of the American Humane Association.

Some of the dogs who aren’t going to New York are now in Atlanta. The city’s humane society is welcoming the pets with open arms.

“Any time there’s a puppy mill or a dog bust we just always want to help to get those animals into a good situation. Bring them back here, get them treated and give the dogs a nice home,” said Kathy Sleva of the Atlanta Humane Society.

The dogs will need to be nursed back to health but thankfully they don’t have any conditions that are untreatable. Their main concern is finding the animals a place to call home.

“It’s rewarding, that’s what it is, knowing that you’re getting animals from a bad situation bring them, put them up for adoption and giving them good homes,” said Toney Smith of the Atlanta Humane Society.

Humane officials are hoping the dogs will be adopted in the coming weeks. There’s still no word on if the owners will be charged.

Tags: adoption, puppy mills, stop puppy mills

California Shelters Over Flowing with Chihuahua’s

Unwanted Chihuahua's in California

California Shelters Over Flowing with Chihuahua’s

In the news this week is the popularity of “Celebrity Pets” have proven not so popular any longer.

The young woman was very specific: She wanted a Chihuahua, “just like Tinkerbell,” the petite pet of Paris Hilton. She waited weeks, coming back often to look at the dogs in this Southern California animal shelter. So, when “Teensy” a 1-year-old Chihuahua was recently surrendered by her owners, she signed the adoption papers and popped the pooch straight into her purse.

Unfortunately, she was back three weeks later. The dog had pooped in her bag, run into traffic and barked a lot. “Like so many people who got these little dogs because celebrities have them, she wasn’t prepared for the reality of taking care of her,” the shelter’s director tells this reporter.

California is in the midst of a Chihuahua explosion with animal shelters and rescue operations jammed with tiny little dogs like Teensy. In L.A. the situation was so dire, that Katherine Heigl helped get 25 of the pocket-sized pups airlifted to New Hampshire, where they were adopted immediately. A third of the canines in the San Francisco city shelters are Chihuahuas and in Oakland the population has reached a whopping 50 percent. Experts say those numbers are unprecedented.
Read more

Tags: adoption, celebrity dogs, chihuahuas, puppies