Penny Stone, manager at the Victoria SPCA, plays with some of the chihuahuas dropped off by a woman with a Mustang convertible filled with 43 of the dogs.Deddeda Stemler/The Globe and Mail
The woman who ran a chihuahua rescue on Vancouver Island for the last two years finally found a way to rescue herself: She surrendered 42 of the pint-sized pooches to the Victoria SPCA.
With dogs packed into her open-topped black Mustang convertible, Langford resident Heidi Eisenhuth drove to SPCA on Aug. 4. She left 33 chihuahuas; nine others were picked up from her home the next day by SPCA staff.
"As much as this might look bad, me sticking my neck out, even with the bad publicity it helped to get them homes," Ms. Eisenhuth said.
Within one week, 23 of the chihuahuas had found suitable homes, and the SPCA is confident the remainder be adopted. "I probably got 100 applications that I have to go through," said branch manager Penny Stone. People were lined up Tuesday morning, chomping at the bit for a chihuahua.
In the six years she's been at the Victoria SPCA, Ms. Stone couldn't recall that many canines being surrendered at one time. "The most before were eight out of a van," she said, adding that mass surrenders of cats by those who hoard small animals is more common.
It was Ms. Eisenhuth's desire for a pet that led to her plight. She had always wanted a big dog, but they are harder to manage in a city, she said, so she eventually adopted one male chihuahua. When he died, she had a hard time finding another chihuahua to rescue - and the seed was planted.
"I realized there must be other people out there like me who want one, so I started a rescue," Ms. Eisenhuth said, hoping the dogs would be adopted quickly.
It was a manageable start, but within a few months, supply eclipsed demand. "For every dog I released, I'd get three or four more," she said.
Relatives of deceased dog owners or hoarders handed over many of the chihuahuas. Most came from north and central Vancouver Island, as well as the Mainland. "Everybody said I should have said, 'No,' " Ms. Eisenhuth said.
All the dogs lived in her trailer and, while she had a bit of volunteer help, she didn't have enough money to pay $500 vet bills or the skills to build a website befitting a legitimate dog-rescue group.
"It was all on me," said Ms. Eisenhuth, who supports herself with investment income.
But by last week, faced with 42 dogs who ate 18 kilograms of food a week, and unable to afford spaying and neutering, she delivered the dogs to the SPCA.
The sudden chihuahua invasion put a financial and logistical strain on the SPCA. At one point last week, the 28-kennel shelter housed 68 dogs. The norm is 10 to 12, Ms. Stone said. And the SPCA has spent at least $10,000 to spay, neuter and supply medical treatment to the mostly lively, sociable dogs, half of which don't have names.
There is another problem: None are housebroken.
As for Ms. Eisenhuth, her troubles aren't over. Investigated in the past for animal neglect, she is again under investigation by the SPCA, Ms. Stone said.
In the Victoria suburb where she lives, the local bylaw stipulates that a household cannot keep more than four dogs older than four months. Bylaw officers had investigated the dog-packed trailer, which also generated noise complaints. But Don Brown, Capital Regional District's bylaw and animal services manager, said now that Ms. Eisenhuth has surrendered the dogs, further action has ceased.
In fact, Ms. Eisenhuth has no dogs left at all. What will she replace them with?
"Anti-depressants, probably," she said.
Special to The Globe and Mail