Arizona Chihuahua Rescue - Meet Phinney

So what I really wanted for Christmas was another dog, but Andrew and I couldn't commit. Let's face it, it's an 18 year commitment, it takes a lot of money, and after getting the perfect dog (Frida), we were unsure if we any other pooch would match up to her. So we found a happy medium. We became foster parents for the Arizona Chihuahua Rescue.

After we filled out all the paperwork and got accepted as foster parents we went to our coordinator's house to pick up our first pooch. This amazing woman, a retired nurse, is hosting a pack of crazy little dogs in her own home. We were in a sort of a heaven, surrounded by adorable chihuahuas licking and snuggling us. We took one home: a sadly underweight fellow with a snotty cold.

We cared for him, and as time went on he became the healthy, handsome pup in the red sweater, (Phinney), and he goes up for adoption today! (His debut will take place at Petco on Oracle.) He's a great success story. He was dropped off at Pima Animal Control, and he was too underweight to be adopted out - all his ribs and vertebra were showing!

The thing more people need to know is that PAC doesn't hang on to dogs since they simply don't have the resources. (Read this recent Tucson Weekly piece on the horrors of PAC.) So it comes down to this: underweight chihuahuas either get picked up by rescue organizations or get euthanized. Essentially, AZ Chihuahua rescue is a rescue organization rescuing dogs from other rescue organizations. What's wrong with this picture???

To think Phinney was nearly killed is mind blowing. This dog is one of the cutest, sweetest little guys you could ever meet. He isn't yippy (like the well-known armpit piranha), or pathetic (he will unleash a healthy chain of napoleonic barking when a big dog comes near). Really, his favorite activity is napping in your lap.

There is a real need for foster parents and adoptive parents for these little dogs who slip between the cracks of the overstressed shelter system. Go to the Arizona Chihuahua Rescue website today to become a foster, donate money or adopt a new member of the family.

Postdata: Check out the letter I published in Tucson Weekly about Phinney.