15 California Chihuahuas Arrive in NYC

On Wednesday, Virgin Airlines flew 15 Chihuahuas to New York City from San Francisco Animal Care and Control in search of new homes. According to the ASPCA, " over the past year, California shelters have seen a dramatic increase in Chihuahua intakes—this toy breed now makes up more than 30% of the state’s shelter dog population. While demand for Chihuahuas has declined in much of the Golden State, their popularity in New York City is as high as ever."

I was so impressed with this entire initiative and all of the people involved. Take a look at the ASPCA's video below.

If you'd like to adopt one of these guys, the dogs will be available for viewing at the ASPCA Adoption Center on Wednesday, January 13, between Noon and 7:00 P.M. Says the ASPCA: "Adoption fees will range from $75 to $200, and include all medical and behavioral treatments, vaccinations, spay/neuter surgery and a microchip."

For additional information, please visit ASPCA.org or call the Operation Chihuahua” hotline at (212) 876-7700, ext. 3210.

Going on Now: New York Week for Animals

Did you have any idea that the first ever New York Week for Animals is going on right now? Probably not. I sure didn't. There are all sorts of cool events going on in the city and surrounding areas this week. Check out their site and get more information here: http://www.newyorkanimals.org/information.html

They also have a monthly magazine: www.animalworldusa.org.

Find Pet-Friendly Apartments!

Looking for apartments that accept dogs, especially in New York City, can be a serious pain in the ass. Many buildings simply don't accept them, and sorting through various options can take a whole lot of unnecessary time. But one site, My Apartment Map, makes it way easier. Seriously, the site is genius.

Image via arose4u.com

How it works is, you just go to http://www.myapartmentmap.com/pet_friendly/, type in the zip code you want to live in, and select which type of animal you have. In seconds, they list all the pet-friendly apartments in your area. Cool, right?

What I love about this site is that they also promote pet adoption. So, if you're even thinking of adopting a dog in the future, this site can save you a ton of grief in the long run.

When I moved into my building, I had to assure the leasing company that my dog weighed less than 30 lbs. I told them "yes." Meanwhile, Riley weighs 34 lbs. But so you don't have to be a liar like me (and live with the guilt), check out this site first.

"Pup Crawl" This Saturday

One Williamsburg resident has organized a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge this weekend to draw attention to all the animals at risk of losing their homes due to the crappy economy. According to the ASPCA, one million animals could be left homeless due to home foreclosures.

Credit: www.nynytours.com

So, Joseph Hassan, 29, decided to do something about it. The City Room New York Times blog reported: "Mr. Hassan said his ideal outcome for this event would be to help a family forced to give up a pet readopt it when they weathered the storm. In the interim, the pet could stay in a no-kill shelter or with a 'foster owner.' But to do that, the pet shelters need additional funds, as they are being overwhelmed by the surge in pets while their sources of money are drying up. 'They are hit doubly hard,' Mr. Hassan said." Mr. Hassan's goal, then, is to raise much-needed funds for shelters. 

The trek will take place Saturday, with pets and owners gathering at City Hall Park around 5:30 p.m. The walk officially begins at 7 p.m., and will be a round trip across the bridge and back. You even get a doggie bag for participating!

To register or get more information, click here: http://www.thepupcrawl.com/index.html

A Plan to Sell Dog Poop

Upstate dog owners have a plan to try to profitably compost the billions of pounds of canine crap produced each year in the U.S, according to the New York Post. The Ithaca group—led by the Tompkins County Dog Owners Group and Cayuga Compost—hopes to market the usable compost within the next few years, and in so doing, significantly reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills.

Image via treehugger.com

“There are 73 million pet dogs in the United States,” says the story. “The average dog produces about 274 pounds of waste per year, which means total dog waste in the United States is more than 20 billion pounds.” Um, yeah, that’ll make throw up in your mouth a little bit, no matter how much you love your pet.

While there are many small-scale pet waste composters available on the market already, the Ithaca group wanted to deal with all the doggy doo on a bigger scale. Large-scale composting has worked well for Montreal, where municipal officials have been composting dog crap since 2004. Those Canadians sure are geniuses…

What do you guys think of this strategy?