Rescued in Los Angeles to Our Home: Nick’s Story

We’ve lived with Chihuahuas for almost the entire time we’ve had pets in our lives. I’d normally start out saying “owned” Chihuahuas, but for anyone who has lived with one, knows, you don’t own them --they own you! Just over two years ago, Zoe, joined our family after we lost our beloved Teek, a Yorkiepoo we rescued from a shelter, to canine cancer a year earlier. Zoe came to us from a friends’ recommendation of a Chihuahua breeder. She has been wonderful, but she does spend some time alone when we are at work and school. We decided to find her a buddy to ease those times when we are away. We’ve always been big proponents of the many wonderful organizations that help in the rescue, care and placement of our four legged friends. We have our own success story with adopting a shelter dog. It was only natural that we would turn to them again for our search. We tried and tried, but each time we’d visit the shelters in our area, we couldn’t find the right match. In fact, we’d had so many visits over the months of searching; the staff knew us as old friends.
Finally, during one of our weekly calls we got some hope. The Salem Animal Rescue League in Salem, NH was taking part in a project working jointly with the City of Los Angeles Department of Animal Services, the actress Katherine Heigl and the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation. Together they were airlifting 25 Chihuahuas scheduled for euthanasia in LA to New England for possible adoption. In the LA area there is an over abundance of Chihuahuas– thanks in part to irresponsible dog owners who think owning a dog is an accessory. The Salem Animal rescue League was getting 5 of them and the other 20 would be heading to Nashua. We went in the morning after they arrived and fell completely in love with the newest member of our family. She arrived with the name “Hollywood” after a mix up they began to call her “Ben” and then again after discovering that she was a girl, the staffers called her “Betty”. Of course, after we met her, we had to find another name that was just right—it would take some thought. Our application was approved and we were matched up in 3 days. On the ride home we noticed that her ears had been chewed by some other larger dogs, so much so that there were terribly scared and pieces of her ears had come off. So for us, the logical choice for her new name was “Nick”. She took to the name almost immediately. I’m glad to report that after just a few short months she is healthy and happy. She has gained 4 lbs and really has become the sparkling companion that Zoe needed. We want to extend a sincere thanks to everyone from Los Angeles to New Hampshire that helped in making our home just that bit happier.