Friends Fur Life

First off, a disclaimer: I am not here to bash the movie.  (So please don’t sue me, Disney!)  I am just here to discuss the ramifications sure to be felt in the animal rescue world starting tomorrow when Beverly Hills Chihuahua becomes available to the masses.

As with any movie, product placements are essential, and done right, they can boost that company to new levels.  Men in Black did it with Ray-Ban Sunglasses, E.T. did it with Reese’s Pieces.  Unfortunately, dog movies, particularly ones centered around a certain breed, do it for puppy mills.

It happened with 101 Dalmatians, it happened with Beethoven, and it will most certainly happen with Beverly Hills Chihuahua.  Kids across the country will flock to the movie, and upon exiting the theater, will utter the phrase that sends shudders down any animal rescuer’s spine, “Mommy, I want a chihuahua!”  And parents, oblivious to the tried-and-true fact that kids will maybe play with a pet for a couple of days before they get bored and move on to the next craze, nevertheless heed their little children’s cries and rush right out to surprise them with one.  Then, after the couple of days have past and the new wears off, the parents are left to feed, water, clean, and otherwise take care of the present that their precious one just HAD to have. 

To the dedicated few that stick with it, realizing that puppies and dogs are large responsibilities and shouldn’t be thrown out at the earliest stages of inconvenience, I applaud you.  However, the blissfully ignorant majority are those that, once they realize, “Wait, puppies poop?  I thought they were just cute and cuddly, not stinky!” and they notice little Fifi has left a nice little puddle on the rug, rather than take the time to potty train, little Fifi will be getting the next ticket out of town straight to the local shelter.  There, if she’s lucky, she’ll be adopted to a loving home that actually WILL take care of her.  However, remember, there is going to be a surplus of chihuahuas flooding the shelter system now, so little Fifi is going to have a lot more competition in the cages surrounding her!  So in the event that little Fifi isn’t one of the lucky ones, after her requisite 3 days, she will be taken on that “long walk” and her cage will be filled by the next chihuahua that some child just HAD to have.

In addition to the already bloated shelters and rescues being filled to now overwhelming capacity because of this new surge of chihuahua love, the puppy mills are going to be having one heck of a bumper crop this fall.  In preparation for this movie, they have been churning out the chihuahuas like you’ve never seen, to make sure each pet store is fully stocked with wriggling bundles of joy that will later be deposited into a cage at the animal shelter.  I’ve already discussed the horrors of puppy mills, so I won’t rehash it here.  Please check out my earlier post on the subject if you missed it.  Rushing out to buy a chihuahua from the pet store to appease your precious babe not only increases the workload for animal shelters, but your money is going directly into the hands of those wishing to exploit and torture dogs for their own profit.

To best combat all of these occurrences, if you must get your child a chihuahua, please check out Petfinder.com and see what chihuahuas (or lovable chihuahua mixes!) are available for adoption in your area.  You will be saving a life rather than contributing to the destruction of one.  Also importantly, rescues work with adopters to make sure the right dog is matched up with the right family.  Chihuahuas are not the easiest family dogs.  They are tiny, and can easily be broken by overzealous little hands that want to love them too much.  Their temperaments can range from sweet and docile to rather ill-mannered.  Pet store employees neither know nor care about the temperament of their “products,” so all you need to do is walk in, point and say “I’ll take that one,” and once the right amount of cash has changed hands, it’s yours.  At a rescue, the employees will work with you to ensure you don’t make a mistake in picking the wrong dog, which would end in heartache and possible expensive vet bills if the dog is indeed “loved too much.”  Also, keep in mind, chihuahuas (if taken care of) can live 15, 20, even 25 years, so please make sure you are ready for such a commitment when you take it on.

That being said, enjoy the movie, it looks quite cute!  And please, when you hear the inevitable cry of, “Mommy, I want a chihuahua!” take the time to sit down and think about what adding another mouth to feed to your family would mean, and if you still think it’s a good idea, head right on over to your local shelter, NOT your local pet store.

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