About New Zealand Chihuahua Rescue:

New Zealand Chihuahua Rescue ("NZCR") is a registered Charitable Trust (charity no. CC55119) founded in 2017 to address the need for a rescue dedicated to re-homing Chihuahuas and  Chihuahua crosses. 

We operate nationwide , although we are based in Canterbury. We have assisted dogs from various backgrounds - including animal shelters, other rescue organisations, kennels, and private owners, 

We are a privately run, breed-specific rescue that survives off of donations, sponsorship and fundraising efforts. All of our team members are volunteers - but we are paid in an abundance of doggy cuddles and love!

We pride ourselves on being an ethical rescue and ensure that before each dog is adopted, they are (at a minimum): de-sexed, vaccinated, micro-chipped (and the chip is registered with the New Zealand Companion Animal Register aswell as Council) and flea and worm treated. The dogs also receive any other necessary veterinary care unique to their situation such as: dentals, blood tests, x-rays, procedures or specialist surgeries. We aim to ensure that any and all health issues are addressed prior to adoption and disclosed to our prospective Adopters. 

A couple of our recent adoption or re-homing success stories are found on this website under "success stories".

About Our Team:

We are a devoted, knowlegable little team who aim to provide excellent care to the dogs we rescue. Our passionate and experienced foster parents specialize in Chihuahuas, with many having backgrounds in veterinary nursing, animal behavior, psychology, or dog training. Dogs in our rescue are nursed through their medical procedures and behavioural issues identified and worked on. Our goal is always to set about shaping these dogs into happy, well-adjusted pets. We also focus on "matching" dogs and their new owners. Not first in, first served!

New Zealand Chihuahua Rescue in the Media:

See below for some articles and interviews on our Trust. To contact NZCR about media inquiries please use the "contact us" form.

For more information about our organization see the following links:  Facebook Page      |        Instagram   

The Aims of our Charity:

• To rescue Chihuahuas, Chihuahua-crosses and other toy breeds (where we have capacity to do so) (ie. "dogs") from situations of neglect and abuse. 

• We bring them into foster care with one of our team members, rehabilitate them medically and behaviourally and adopt them into forever loving homes that are matched to their needs.

• To collect, rehabilitate and re-home unclaimed dogs from Council Animal Shelters throughout New Zealand.

• To provide facilities and resources to assist in controlling the population of unwanted dogs. We also ensure dogs placed in the trust's care are desexed.

•  Raising funds for the benefit of dogs in the care of the Trust.
  
• To prevent, by education or other means, irresponsible breeding. Hoping to educate the public about the breed in general and health aspects - with a view to doing all we can to ensure that there are less dogs needing assistance.

What Type of Dogs Do We Help?

As our name suggests, we focus on assisting Chihuahuas and Chihuahua-crosses. We have assisted other toy breeds when we have the capacity to do so. However, we only take on a limited amount of dogs at each time, to ensure that we can provide comprehensive care to each dog.

Toy breeds typically live 17-20 years, so they are quite the commitment! Unfortunately, this also means many outlive their owners or otherwise require rehoming during their lifetime.

A review of our prior cases, conducted in November 2021, concluded that the most common ages that we receive dogs in is between 1-2 years old and between 6-10 years old. The oldest dog we have taken in and adopted out was 14 years old

Is There a Need for A Chihuahua Rescue? 

Why?

For information on why we began a Chihuahua Rescue, and our personal story, please see the below link, "Pippin's Legacy".