The winner is The Wee Beasties, a very cute group of pups, and their mom Charlotte. You’ll see from the stories below why people like Charlotte are the unsung heroes of the world and a true inspiration.

Peaches, a 7 year old chihuahua was found in a water-filled ditch in Tennessee. She was emaciated, had a broken jaw with a bad wire job and kennel cough. A shelter volunteer took pity on her, took her home and reached out to rescues. A rescue in Missouri took her in and listed her on Petfinder. We were lucky enough to be chosen to adopt her in December 2006. She was terrified of men but with time, care and lots of treats, my husband was able to win her over. She’s now a true Daddy’s girl and loving spending her golden years with us.

Sam, a 3 year old chihuahua mix, came into the shelter where I volunteer. He had been abandoned and was starved. Weeks passed, other dogs came and went but but no one wanted Sam. He did get one home who promptly returned him, claiming that he’d bitten their baby. After questioning, they admitted there was no bite- they just didn’t want him. I took him home and he’s happier than ever. He does have some separation anxiety and phobia of storms but we’re working on that.

Rufus (another chihuahua) also came into the shelter, about a month after we got Sam. He was bald, emaciated, half-blind and on the short-list for euthanasia due to his age and condition. So…another addition to the family. We’ve decided he’s about 13 and may not have many years left but what he does have will be spent here in comfort with us. He’s done very well in the year that we’ve had him. His fur is grown back and he’s in great condition for his age.

Jax is our most recent foster from the shelter. At least, we intend for him to be a foster success instead of a foster failure like Sam and Rufus were. BOL!

He’s a 3-legged chihuahua/basenji mix (we think) and is about 5 years old. He’s been to two foster homes, the first one lost him before they ever got him in the house. His first adoptive home backed out before they even met him. We’re working to get him back to a healthy weight so he can find a really great forever home.

Adoption is so important. Our shelters are full and killing every day. Our rescues are full to bursting and can’t save them all. If anyone can add just one more dog to their home, they need to do so.

I want to thank Charlotte for sending over her wonderful stories of rescue, and for all the work she does to help those who have no voice.

Charlotte, you are a true hero.

The dog  played with the Chihuahua and a Yorkshire terrier who live there. He  didn’t want to hurt anyone, he was just looking for a little fun.

Unfortunately,  the dog  did  cause a bit of a mess in the home, ripping through a bag of dog food and scattering it around, knocking things over, and leaving a little bit of himself in the dining room.

Here are the details from UPI.com.

Rosie Sanchez, alerted by a neighbor to the burglary in progress Wednesday, got home in time to see the culprit being led away by an animal-control officer, KHOU-TV, Houston, reported. She found rifled dog food, a puddle of urine underneath her dining room table and a stereo knocked over.

The dog was not arrested but he was taken in by animal control. If no one comes forward to claim him he’ll be put up for adoption.

Pictured is Princess Isabella Tu Tu, despite how she’s dressed she is  not the real culprit. However Princess I.   is adoptable on Dogster’s Dog Adoption & Rescue Center along with many other beauties.

The owner of a missing chihuahua in Cincinnati, OH. offered a  $1,000 reward for the safe return of her beloved pet. Carmen Dominguez and Sheila Miller say they found the dog and returned him weeks later after seeing the online ad advertising the reward.

The owner refuses to pay the reward because she thinks they stole her dog. The women claim they picked up the dog when he was about to run into traffic. They say he had no identification.

Here’s where it gets interesting, the women are now suing the owner for not paying out the reward. According to the GrandForksHerald.com the lawsuit, filed by Carmen Dominguez and Sheila Miller, alleges breach of contract and fraud and seeks damages up to $15,000.

I don’t know if the women stole the dog or if the owner just wanted to back out of paying, either way, I can’t imagine suing. So much for just being a good Samaritan and returning the dog because it’s the right thing to do.

Would you ever sue someone if you found a dog and the reward wasn’t paid?  Or do you think the whole thing is ridiculous?  Give me a bark.

There was no picture with this story, the handsome boy above is from Dogster’s Adoption Center. His name is Poindexter and he lost an eye after being attacked by another dog. He is very sweet and loving and in desperate need of a forever home.  The poster lives in Calgary, Canada but he’s being fostered in California. He can be brought to Alberta if anyone there is interested in adopting him. For more info send email to muttsnstuff.

The honor goes to…..Chi Chi, the temperamental Chihuahua. Chi Chi is the winner of the Reader’s Digest Hero Pet of the Year award for helping save two ladies from drowning.

I watched this story on the Today Show and I noticed none of the hosts were standing close to Chi Chi while they did the interview. Apparently Chi Chi is a little protective and no one wanted to take any chances. I’m sure the fact that he bared his teeth at the hosts probably didn’t help.

Here’s the story from Today at msnbc.com.

By sounding a yipping alarm on a North Carolina beach, Chi Chi likely saved the lives of two senior citizens overcome by waves – and was crowned Reader’s Digest Hero Pet of the Year in the process.

Chi Chi appeared humble – if a bit standoffish – in his national TV debut Tuesday, appearing on Rockefeller Plaza as his owners, Rick and Mary Lane, told TODAY’s Matt Lauer and Ann Curry how their pint-size prize rose to the occasion in a big way when danger loomed.

Mary Lane said it was a typical day at the beach for the family last October. She and Rick were relaxing on beach chairs at Indian Beach on North Carolina’s Outer Banks while Chi Chi rested on his own chair – restrained, of course, since he tends to chase after other beachgoers.

“He leapt out of his beach chair, still attached, dragging the beach chair, and he started sending out an alarm,” Lane told TODAY. “He was making a sound we never heard before. Rick said, ‘Hey, what’s the matter with the dog?’ ”

It turned out nothing was the matter with Chi Chi – but there was danger some 100 yards down the beach, where Mary Lane spotted a horrific sight.

“There was a storm surge, and there were two elderly ladies – one had fallen on her back headfirst into the surf,” she said. “The other lady – a little bitty lady about 90 pounds – was trying to hold her head up, and she was in danger of being washed out.”

The Lanes rushed to pull the ladies out of the riptide, and after determining the pair were shaken but otherwise fine, returned to their spot on the beach – to find Chi Chi happily sleeping in doggy dreamworld in his chair.

The Lanes were amazed that their pampered pet could sound an alarm of danger, bellowing out strange yips that “would not let us ignore him,” Mary Lane said. And readers of Reader’s Digest were so impressed by Chi Chi’s story they voted him Hero Pet of the Year.

Chi Chi can perhaps be forgiven his temperament in light of his early life: He was rescued as an abused dog by the Lanes’ niece when he was just a pup. Now he’s a local celebrity in the Lanes’ native Greensboro, with newspaper coverage and his gray-white mug posted in his veterinarian’s office. “Everyone recognizes him,” Mary Lane said with pride.

What a great story, way to go Chi Chi.

* Pic courtesy Today

In Kaufman County Texas almost 600 dogs, along with some cats, were seized when the Humane Society and sheriff’s deputies raided a puppy mill.

The society said it started investigating the kennel, which is located near Prairieville just north of Mabank, when someone came to them asking for dog food donations. Representatives visited and found poor living conditions and malnourished dogs.

“If loving the animal is a criminal, then maybe I’m a criminal,” she said. “Because I work 6 o’clock in the morning until 11:30 at night taking care of these animals.

Representatives said most of the dogs were living in their own waste and many were under fed. Three dogs died after being rescued and several others have skin or foot conditions.

Watch FOX 4 reporter Fil Alvarado’s story.

If you can’t see the video click here.

Deputies said kennel owner, 72-year-old Margaret Boyd, faces animal cruelty charges.

Boyd told FOX 4 she is fighting to get the animals back. A court hearing is scheduled for Friday and both she and the Humane Society plan to ask for custody of the animals.

* Pic MyFOXDFW

The first of the chihuahuas rescued from the home of Kenneth Lang Jr. have been adopted.

On July 22nd over 90 dogs were found after authorities entered the property in Dearborn, Michigan.

The tan and chocolate-furred Chihuahua, who was one of 105 dogs rescued last month from a cramped and filthy Dearborn house, is now Som — renamed by his new owner Phuong Nguy of Royal Oak because the name represents the number three in Chinese.

Som and five other rescued Chihuahuas — Matador, Amuni, Bella, Angel and Tiny, also known as Precious Love — became the first to be adopted from the group when they were united Thursday with their new families in front of dozens of onlookers, news media and staff members at the Dearborn Animal Shelter on Greenfield Road.

The festive event featured toasts of sparkling white grape juice, a “Happy Re-Birthday” cake and smiles from the adoptive families, who were selected from more than 500 applicants.

“It was kind of love at first sight,” said the 29-year-old Nguy, holding Som upright in her arms as she described her choice.

While only six dogs left the shelter Thursday, more could be adopted out next week, shelter spokeswoman Sandra Boulton said. The dogs must pass a medical evaluation before they can be paired up with a prospective family. Before leaving the shelter, they are also spayed or neutered and microchipped.

The house which was filled with feces, trash strewn throughout, and dead dogs in the basement could be demolished within the next 60 days. Kenneth Lang Jr., the owner of the house, remains under psychiatric observation.

* Photos courtesy PATRICIA BECK/Detroit Free Press

A woman in Huntington Beach, CA. is credited with saving the life of a Chihuahua using CPR. She learned the technique by watching it on television.

Krisna Torres, 35, and her husband were the first to arrive at the birthday party Sunday for their friend’s 6-year-old daughter. When they got to the house, they noticed two dogs on top of a treehouse in the backyard.

Dog owner, Maricruz Cisneros, says she placed the dogs there and put chairs in front of the entrance to prevent them from running into the street.

Not long after Torres and her husband arrived, a young girl was heard screaming for help.

Charlene Cisneros says she checked on the dogs and was horrified to find one of them — a Chihuahua named Chicuaes — dangling by its leash and choking.

Krisna sprang into action and began breathing into the animal’s mouth.

“Krisna just saw the dog on the floor, picked her up and just started breathing mouth-to-mouth, putting her fingers in,” Charlene told KTLA.

Krisna says the dog’s breath wasn’t the best, but she only cared about saving Chicuaes’ life at that point in time.

And she did just that.

Chicaues gave a gasp and then began breathing after about two minutes of rescue breathing.

The dog was checked out at the vet and given a clean bill of health.

* Pic courtesy KTLA-TV

A man who lived in what appeared to be a well taken care of suburban home on the outside told a different story on the inside.

After receiving complaints from neighbors about a foul odor coming from the home officials got access and found 90 dogs, feces, and trash strewn throughout.

Neighbors in the past had complained of an odor, but this week was the first time Dearborn, Michigan officials got inside. On Wednesday and Thursday, crews wearing masks to help them breathe carried dogs from the two-story home.

“There’s trash from floor to ceiling,” said Nick Siroskey, director of residential services for the city. “There’s feces and urine throughout the entire house.”

City workers, along with Friends for the Dearborn Animal Shelter, removed 42 ailing and feces-covered dogs from the home Wednesday. They returned Thursday and found about 50 more dogs.

The 56-year-old man who was living in the house was taken to a local hospital for observation. His family, which lives in Florida, was involved in his care and cooperating with officials.

The man’s sister told officials that she believed he initially had two dogs in the home and that they may have reproduced, Siroskey said. Misdemeanor animal cruelty charges were possible, but Siroskey said the man appears to have mental health issues that could be a factor in the case.

Crews pulled bags full of trash from the home to clear pathways inside. The house was deemed unfit for human habitation and the city likely will seek to tear it down, Siroskey said.

The dogs are now at the animal shelter where they are being examined. Hopefully after the dogs -mostly chihuahuas- receive proper medical care they will be put up for adoption and have a chance at a good life.

Thanks to Allyson Siegel who ponied up $4000 a five-legged chihuahua won’t be headed to live out her life in a freak show.

Last week she outbid a Coney Island freak show operator who wanted to buy the puppy.

Allyson Siegel, 45, of Charlotte, N.C., was stunned to learn that little Precious, a Chihuahua-terrier mix, was bound for a Brooklyn freak show, so she called the dog’s owner, Calvin Owensby, and offered him more bones.

“I called Calvin and I said, ‘I understand this is about money,’ and I just said, ‘How much,’” Siegel told the Daily News yesterday.

“She is beautiful, she’s not a freak, she’s a normal little puppy dog and she should be just like all the others,” Siegel said.

Precious was born with a fifth leg protruding from her stomach, between her hind legs. The extra leg has six toes.

John Strong, the freak show proprietor in Coney Island, had already offered Owensby $3,000 and sent a $1,000 down payment, but Siegel convinced him to back out and sell her the puppy for $4,000.

“[Precious] wasn’t a freak, she was just a dog born with five legs,” Owensby told the Daily News. “My girlfriend decided she didn’t want to see her in a freak show.”

A Manhattan vet was so touched by Siegel’s actions that he offered to remove the dog’s extra leg for free. Siegel had checked with a local vet but they wanted $2,000 to remove the extra leg.

* Pic courtesy SINER/AP

I’ve posted numerous articles on why not to leave your dog unattended in a car, but it still happens all the time.

Debby Brown will think twice, possibly 10,000 times, before she ever leaves her chorkie again.

CONCORD, Calif. – On Monday morning, Debby Brown was ecstatic, having been reunited with her tiny dog Lexi 2 1/2 days after the pet was taken from her Cadillac Escalade parked behind a Concord, Calif., restaurant.

But it was a tough weekend for the Concord woman, who offered – and paid – a $10,000 reward to get back Lexi.

“We got so many calls, about 40, and some of them wanted to meet us,” said Brown, who had posted fliers all over the East Bay region. “It was scary sitting in those parking lots, waiting, afraid of getting robbed. … It’s been a very stressful few days.”

Her ordeal began Friday night, when Brown and her boyfriend left the Elephant Bar on Willow Pass Road and found a window of their vehicle had been smashed. Lexi, a 2-year-old, 3-pound Chihuahua-Yorkshire terrier mix – a ‘chorkie’ – was gone.

So Brown posted fliers promising a $10,000 reward, no questions asked, for Lexi’s safe return. That brought out the callers – most of whom, of course, didn’t have Lexi.

She tried to meet with a few of the people who called over the weekend, claiming they had Lexi. None of them showed, she said. Then Brown received photos of her pet via e-mail, convincing her that this was the real deal. And indeed, early Monday morning, Brown and her boyfriend met with people in a parking lot in Alameda, Calif., where the cash and the dog were exchanged.

Since Brown offered the reward with no conditions she has not pursued the matter with the police. It would be one thing not to involve the police if Lexi had simply been found and returned. However, if what is reported is true,  Brown was blackmailed and the police should be involved.  If the perpetrators aren’t caught what’s to stop them from doing it again?

* Pic of Brown and Lexi courtesy Contra Costa Times