Then other people find out she is the chihuahua lady — and it’s out of control.

August 9, 2010 10:20 PM

“I think she was a very nice lady who was in way over her head,” said (the local SPCA general manager). “She was probably in a situation where she started with one chihuahua and it had babies. People get attached to them and feel that nobody can do as good a job [caring for them], so they end up keeping them. Then other people find out she is the chihuahua lady — her boss died and gave her 12. Pretty soon, her babies are having babies and it’s out of control.” SPCA swamped with tsunami of chihuahuas
posted by KokuRyu (52 comments total)

It’s enough to give the most reluctant burrito consumers a Taco Bell craving

Taco Bell should only appear in a story lead if the story is about Taco Bell.
posted by IvoShandor at 10:24 PM on August 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Is this the post about animal hoarding?

Animal Planet Blue: The Most Depressing Reality Show of All Time.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:26 PM on August 9, 2010

Taco Bell should only appear in a story lead if the story is about Taco Bell.

Yeah, as if my association between Taco Bell meat and small mammal shit wasn't already close enough...
posted by emilyd22222 at 10:26 PM on August 9, 2010 [5 favorites]

"She had a Mustang convertible full of chihuahuas"

But it was Saturday night,
I guess that makes it all right
And you say what have I got to lose?

Oh yeah!
posted by CynicalKnight at 10:31 PM on August 9, 2010 [14 favorites]

The odd thing about it is that her boss supposedly had a dozen Chihuahuas that got left to her when the boss died, on top of the 30 she presumably came by through other means. It's like an upsetting dog-based pyramid scheme.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 10:39 PM on August 9, 2010 [18 favorites]

Folks, please spay and neuter your pets.
posted by maxwelton at 10:44 PM on August 9, 2010 [18 favorites]

Did she keep any?
posted by orange swan at 10:47 PM on August 9, 2010

SPCA has 85 chihuahuas from one house in Philly, come and get em
posted by Danila at 10:49 PM on August 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

I misread that originally as the SCA and immediately an image leaped into my head of a woman in faux-medieval clothing being drawn in a plastic chariot by a horde of chihuahuas.
posted by Kattullus at 10:59 PM on August 9, 2010 [19 favorites]

I don't even want to think how the house smells!
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 11:07 PM on August 9, 2010

Folks, please don't let anyone call you the Chihuahua Lady.
posted by grounded at 11:10 PM on August 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

And why is this a Metafilter FPP?

Cute puppy stories are a reliable bright for crappy local newspapers. They're also super boring to read.

Animal hoarders are weirdos. This lady was obviously a relatively minor example of an animal hoarder, chihuahua subtype.

Seriously, take a minute before taking something like this on the front page folks.
posted by jackbrown at 11:15 PM on August 9, 2010 [3 favorites]

"She had a Mustang convertible full of chihuahuas"

But it was Saturday night,
I guess that makes it all right

Hmmm. Uh. I was thinking something more along the lines of...

Rollin' in my 5.0
With my rag-top down so my hair can blow
The girlies on standby waving just to say hi
Did you stop no I just

dropped off 43 chihuahuas
posted by eddydamascene at 11:17 PM on August 9, 2010 [7 favorites]

There are plenty of starving people in this country. Lets not let this go to waste.
posted by jcterminal at 11:31 PM on August 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

I have one chihuahua - and she's a pug/chihuahua mix. I cannot imagine having FORTY THREE CHIHUAHUAS - that would be SO MUCH HYPER and oh so very NEEDY. Just reading this story wears me out from thinking of all that hyper + needy + clingy.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 11:44 PM on August 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Paris Hilton was the cultural equivalent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Irritating TV show, unwatchable movie, bizarre lifestyle ... Suddenly the world makes a bit more sense.
posted by WPW at 11:48 PM on August 9, 2010

I guess she sailed away...on a wave of mutt-ilation.

Okay that was bad and I am a bad person.
posted by hellojed at 12:00 AM on August 10, 2010 [3 favorites]

I misread that originally as the SCA and immediately an image leaped into my head of a woman in faux-medieval clothing being drawn in a plastic chariot by a horde of chihuahuas.

From the same site: Alberta's beloved Gopher Museum.
posted by XMLicious at 12:02 AM on August 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

Little, bitty dogs like this always make me of that PJ O'Rourke riff about cars - to the effect that you should get a big one or not bother.

That said, a tsunami of chihuahuas is rather a nice image.
posted by rhymer at 12:06 AM on August 10, 2010 [2 favorites]

jackbrown This lady was obviously a relatively minor example of an animal hoarder, chihuahua subtype.

Fortunately she had enough perspective to give them up, and according to the article they mostly seem to be healthy and happy. Very minor example of an animal hoarder.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 12:09 AM on August 10, 2010

Not the best of the web.
posted by gen at 1:18 AM on August 10, 2010

SPCA has 85 chihuahuas from one house in Philly, come and get em

Now THAT is a crazy story. Not just that a woman was living in a house with a zillion little dogs that shat on every surface, but it is an example of Philly's dysfunction -- neighbors had complained about the stink for years, and were sometimes retaliated against by having dog feces smeared on their door. Neighbors couldn't open their windows because of The Stink.

Animal horders are really sad. It's animal abuse, but it's not Michael Vick you deserve to die abuse. They love their animals, and they're crazy.
posted by angrycat at 3:33 AM on August 10, 2010

Chihuahua Tsunami is my favorite new indie band name.
posted by kcds at 4:03 AM on August 10, 2010 [3 favorites]

The best part about the phrase "swamped with a tsunami of chihuahuas" is that not only is it two mixed metaphors but it's also three mixed cultural references.
posted by DU at 4:32 AM on August 10, 2010 [2 favorites]

The unique situation is putting an unexpected strain on the SPCA’s finances. All but two of the dogs need to be spayed and neutered, and about half of the canines need extra medical treatment for non-life threatening issues, Stone said. One of them had to have its eye removed on Thursday, one had an infection in its uterus, and several needed dental work.


Really? They do dental work at the SPCA?

This reminds me of all those stories of dog rings busted up-- they happen a few times a year here in NC-- where suddenly the local SPCA has to shelter 50 or 60 pit bulls. Usually they have to keep the dogs until there is a trial and that can take up to a year or more. Sometimes this means that other dogs have to be euthanized to make room.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:52 AM on August 10, 2010

You'd think after the first dozen or so she'd have said chi-whoa-whoa.
posted by Flashman at 4:52 AM on August 10, 2010 [4 favorites]

Is anyone else hungry for a dog burrito now?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 5:06 AM on August 10, 2010

Chihuahuas; the tribbles of our era.
posted by pyrex at 5:07 AM on August 10, 2010 [6 favorites]

I blood curls at the thought of all those bug-eyed monsters on their stick-like legs shivering and whimpering.
posted by Astro Zombie at 5:18 AM on August 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

Chihuahuas are the worst dogs.
posted by sonic meat machine at 5:24 AM on August 10, 2010

The odd thing about it is that her boss supposedly had a dozen Chihuahuas that got left to her when the boss died, on top of the 30 she presumably came by through other means. It's like an upsetting dog-based pyramid scheme.

I read about this in Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things, which has a chapter on animal hoarding - it sometimes becomes sort of a cult, with a charismatic individual convincing those around her to "save these poor dogs from being mutilated" (ie, spayed or neutered).
posted by muddgirl at 5:39 AM on August 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

Chihuahuas are the worst dogs.

Your least favorite dog breed sucks
posted by spicynuts at 6:17 AM on August 10, 2010

Bring those pups to NYC! Back in January, 15 chihuahuas flew from CA to NYC and the line to adopt them was down the block.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:30 AM on August 10, 2010

OK. For most of my life, in a masterful example of cognitive dissonance, I thought that chinchillas and chihuahuas were the same animal.

I thought it was weird how Paris Hilton was always schlepping around this huge rodent. I was also sort of horrified that people wore fur coats made out of little dogs. (And pretty scraggly looking dogs at that - who on earth would want such a coat?) And while I knew that chihuahuas could interbreed with real dogs...I just never really processed that knowledge.

It wasn't until the recent Achewood storyline (recent? it's been months! come on, Onstead...) that I really got to thinking about chinchillas and challenging my whole Latin American small-mammal belief system. And then, like 2 days later, I actually saw chinchillas at the pet store. (So cute.)

According to Wikipedia: "The Chihuahua’s history is puzzling and there are many theories surrounding the origin of the species. Chihuahuas were used in sacred rituals as they were considered holy in pre-Columbian Indian nations." Who knew?
posted by a young man in spats at 6:31 AM on August 10, 2010 [2 favorites]

:D
posted by sonic meat machine at 6:34 AM on August 10, 2010

“To take in 43 dogs in that time period is kind of crazy,” said Victoria SPCA general manager Penny Stone. “Thank goodness they were small.”

Sure, it could've been worse; what if they were Newfies?
posted by scalefree at 6:37 AM on August 10, 2010

I only like the kind of chihuahuas that fly.
posted by Goofyy at 7:11 AM on August 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

"Rescuing Cats from the Big Bad World", The Gaping Maw, 9/30/01
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 7:12 AM on August 10, 2010

If they were Newfoundlands it wouldn't have been a metaphorical tsunami (of tiny dogs) but a literal one composed of drool.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:13 AM on August 10, 2010 [2 favorites]

OK. For most of my life, in a masterful example of cognitive dissonance, I thought that chinchillas and chihuahuas were the same animal.

And only recently did I realize that Greg Kinnear didn't sing, "My Love's in Jeopardy, Baby." Greg Kinnear=Greg Kihn.
posted by etaoin at 7:27 AM on August 10, 2010

43 Chihuahuas is the name of my Merlin Mann cover band.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:52 AM on August 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

Animal hoarding: not funny.

A Brooklyn man accused of keeping 76 Pomeranians in fetid conditions in a doublewide trailer in upstate New York has been ordered to pay $65,000.

Steven Fong was charged earlier this month with 77 counts of animal cruelty after the dogs were found living in feces and urine in rural Chenango County.

Police say that nobody appeared to live with the dogs in Oxford, 150 miles northwest of New York City. Bags of food had been torn open and left for them to eat.

The remains of nearly 40 dogs were found in nearby woods.

posted by zamboni at 8:03 AM on August 10, 2010

aeschenkarnos: "
Fortunately she had enough perspective to give them up, and according to the article they mostly seem to be healthy and happy. Very minor example of an animal hoarder."

THIS. A THOUSAND TIMES THIS.

I'll be honest, I hate chihuahuas. Hate most small dogs. If you've got a small dog, I'm probably going to judge you for it. Sure, I'll get to know the dog, and if it's awesome, I'm willing to admit it. But I have a huge amount of respect for this woman, for being able to have 43 (relatively) healthy, well-socialized small dogs. And even more so, for being able to give them up.

In Fort Worth, they recently seized 28 greyhounds and greyhound mixes from a guy, all of them COVERED in ticks, all positive for ehrlichiosis, four now dead from distemper. I'd post a link, but just reading about it gets me choked up and pissed off, so you can use your googles.

So yeah, as awful as it sounds, I kind of wish we had more people like the chihuahua lady in the world.
posted by specialagentwebb at 8:31 AM on August 10, 2010

Animal Planet Blue: The Most Depressing Reality Show of All Time.

Even I can't watch this show, and I'm a horrible person who feeds on "reality show" exploitation like a vampire feeds on the blood of the living.
posted by infinitywaltz at 8:49 AM on August 10, 2010

“I think she was a very nice lady who was in way over her head,”

Why do I have the picture of a single clutching hand, bright red nail polish, sticking up out of a sea of squirming brown yapping shapes.
posted by Splunge at 9:15 AM on August 10, 2010 [3 favorites]

That new Animal Planet show is like the worst possible mash-up between Hoarders, Intervention, and Animal Cops, with a heaping dose of that late-night Sarah McLachlan/SPCA commercial. [cue shivering kitten]

I picture an executive staring out the plate glass window of their office thinking, "We have that Animal Cops show... but it's just not sad enough.... Surely there's a way we can make it more sad..."
posted by ErikaB at 10:10 AM on August 10, 2010 [3 favorites]

I would love to have a Chihuahua - but my roommate's cats would eat it.
posted by spinifex23 at 10:58 AM on August 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

Animal hoarding: not funny.

I think I've posted these here before but holy shit is animal hoarding ever not funny.
posted by malthas at 11:01 AM on August 10, 2010

Animal hoarding: not funny.

The heck it isn't!
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 11:15 AM on August 10, 2010

Does the tsunami tag belong on here?
posted by Enki at 1:18 PM on August 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

Speaking of non-water tsunamis, I can't find a picture of it but there's this U. S. brand of extremely buttery microwave popcorn that has a picture of a tsunami of melted butter on the front.

But yes - animal tsunamis: sometimes funny, animal hoarding: not funny.
posted by XMLicious at 5:30 PM on August 10, 2010

Dog lovers line up for Chihuahuas at SPCA.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:41 AM on August 11, 2010 [1 favorite]