Chihuahua Hoarding Case - August 2010

10:44 pm Monday night, August 2. The HART phone rings with news of a desperate situation in rural Virginia. Child Protective Services responds to a complaint of unsanitary conditions for a child and upon arrival finds 28 small dogs living in a trailer, in squalor, with several adults and children. Animal control is called but will not enter the property without protective gear. Words are exchanged, tears are shed and the family agrees to relinquish the dogs to county animal control. End of story? No. Authorities indicate that the shelter is out of space. Dogs who DO NOT immediately get rescued will be euthanized.

The caller, a rescuer from Southwestern VA, tells us that many of the dogs are accounted for but some are still in danger. With less than 12 hours to react, HART agrees to help and commits to several dogs, one of which is pregnant. We place calls to fosters and other rescues for help and make plans to talk to the local rescuer again in the morning.

9 am Tuesday morning. The rescuer is onsite as she has followed animal control to the property. Her voice is defeated. She is overwhelmed at what she sees, what she smells...and what she feels. The situation is dire. The trailer doesn't have actual windows, just plastic sheeting to keep out the elements. The family is desperately poor and has very little, but the dogs, she confides, are surprisingly well fed and seem socialized. Animal Control is there as are other rescuers who are divvying up the dogs; prioritizing the youngest and most adoptable. As each animal is carried out, a woman in her 70's kisses them, touches and hugs them and says goodbye. Our rescuer expected to feel angry; she did not anticipate feeling such sadness and sympathy for the family. HART informs the rescuer that we will take all the remaining dogs. She sends us pictures and worries that we might not want them because of age or health but we assure her that we will save them.

4 pm Tuesday afternoon. The dust has settled and the shelter has agreed to let the remaining dogs spend one night in a garage at the shelter until they can be transported to Northern VA the next day. As the dogs are examined, another pregnant dog is discovered and without hesitation HART agrees to take her. Each dog is fed and treated for fleas before they spend a long, dark night in the garage.

8 am Wednesday morning. The rescuer is back at the shelter feeding and watering the dogs. She sends us pictures of many of them and again worries that we might not want them if they are too old or broken looking. We remind her that she “had us at Hello”. 10 little dogs are loaded into a white VW Jetta and begin the 6 hour journey to the rest of their lives.

2 pm Wednesday. We arrive at the transport location and meet our new charges for the first time. They are very scared and some have hair loss due to flea allergies. Their ears are dirty, their feet are pink and irritated and their nails are tragically long. They cling to us as we hold them and are fearful of the leashes. We stroke and comfort them and try to pretend that they don’t smell as bad as they do. One little male (now Lance) has a tongue THAT peeks out of his mouth and as we examine him we see that his jaw is crooked. This crooked lower jaw prohibits his teeth from coming together…thus enabling his tongue to roll out. He trembles, but as we stroke and comfort him his little tongue darts out and kisses our noses.

HART is very proud to report that every dog was saved and none had to be euthanized. Each of these little dogs are precious and will be available for adoption soon. Along with continued socialization, basic vaccines and vet care, each will need to be spayed or neutered and many will require dental care.

This latest emergency is just one example of why we hold fundraisers and why their success is so important. Without your help and support, we would not be able to say yes to helping so many precious lives when we receive these emergency calls.

UPDATE 3 pm Friday (8/6). Isabella, our little pregnant chi (pictured with the yellow leash above), goes to the vet to try and determine how many puppies she will have and get an estimated due date. The vet guesses that she has 10 days left...

8 am Saturday. Isabella, the little pregnant chi goes out for a morning potty break and makes a bee line for the back yard shed. She darts under the shed and will not come out. Our foster family is panicked. They try crawling under, poking things at her...nothing works. After an hour of trying, foster son Matthew runs next door to a neighbor who is a fire fighter. They plan to ask for his help in cutting out the floor of the shed. During the calm while other family members are strategizing, little Isabella crawls out and comes to foster Mom Beth. Two hours later she starts delivering puppies! The good news is that she delivered 3 healthy girls and one healthy boy. The bad news is that she pulled foster sister Jessica's homecoming dress down from its hanger and had her puppies on it!!

Please help us help them! Any size donation you can make is welcome and helpful. Donations are tax deductible and can be made by PayPal or by mailing a check to our office. Names will appear on this page thru mid-September 2010. PayPal donors: Please click the link below and put your dedication in the "Instructions for HART" box.

A HUGE Thank You to our donors!

• Janet Strain
• Cathleen Bleakly
• Joy Reges
• Tiffany Tully, "God bless HART for saving these little guys and gals!!"
• Katherine Gibson
• Donna Mentzer

Note: Corrections may be sent to the webmaster.

Pictures of the Location

Pictures of the Rescued Chihuahuas