About New Zealand Chihuahua Rescue:

New Zealand Chihuahua Rescue ("NZCR") is a registered New Zealand charity (no. CC55119). We were founded in 2017 due to a need for a rescue dedicated to Chihuahuas as a special breed. We assist dogs all over New Zealand from our base in Canterbury. 

Who do we assist?

Our charity assists dogs from a variety of backgrounds, including animal shelters (council pounds around New Zealand), other rescue organizations, breeding or show kennels, as well as private owners and families or estates needing support with remaining pets.

We are a breed-specific rescue that operates solely through donations, sponsorship products or opportunities, and our own fundraising efforts. Our entire team is made up of dedicated volunteers— but we’re rewarded with plenty of doggy cuddles, love, and gratitude!

What do we do?

We pride ourselves on being an ethical rescue with limited spaces to ensure each dog receives the highest standard of care before adoption. At a minimum, all dogs are de-sexed, vaccinated, microchipped (registered with both the New Zealand Companion Animal Register and Council), and treated for fleas and worms. 

Beyond this, they receive any additional veterinary care needed for their individual health, such as dentals, blood tests, x-rays, and specialized procedures. In some cases, we have even fundraised for specialist surgeries to give our dogs the best chance at a healthy life. Our goal is to ensure all health concerns are addressed before adoption or fully disclosed to adopters matched to their unique ongoing needs. To view our success stories, please see HERE.

Our Team:

We are a dedicated and knowledgeable team of volunteers committed to providing exceptional care for the dogs we rescue. Our passionate and experienced foster parents specialize in Chihuahuas, with many bringing backgrounds in veterinary nursing, animal behaviour, psychology, and dog training. 

The dogs in our care receive medical support, behavioural assessments, and initial training to help them become well-adjusted pets. Our focus is always on carefully matching each dog with the most suitable adopter—not on a first-come, first-served basis—ensuring both the dog’s and adopter’s needs are met for the best possible outcome.

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   

Aims of our Charity:

• To rescue, rehabilitate and rehome Chihuahuas and Chihuahua-crosses (primarily) as a small breed specific rescue. Where capacity allows, help other toy breeds in need as well. 

• Accept dogs into foster care and match them with one of our team members suited to their needs, who will be able to rehabilitate them medically and behaviourally. Our goal being to adopt the dogs into forever loving homes that are best suited to their individual personalities and requirements.

• To receive in, rehabilitate and re-home unclaimed dogs from Council Animal Shelters throughout New Zealand as priority.

• To provide facilities and resources to assist in controlling the population of unwanted dogs. For this reason, all dogs placed in the trust's care are desexed. We also assist with community desexing when able.

•  Raising funds for the benefit of dogs in the care of the Trust and their ongoing needs, training, medical care or other purposes. No volunteers are paid for their work with NZCR.
  
• To prevent, by education or other means, irresponsible breeding. We hope to educate the public about the breed in general and the importance of health over appearance - with a view to doing all we can to ensure that there are fewer dogs needing assistance in New Zealand overall.

Which dogs do we help?

As our name suggests, we focus on assisting Chihuahuas and Chihuahua-crosses primarily. We prioritize each case based on their needs, behavioural or medical requirements, our available funding and foster family availability. We have assisted numerous other toy breed prior and aim to assist 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 in our Rescue.

Toy breeds typically live 17-20 years, making them quite the long-term commitment! Unfortunately, this also means many outlive their owners or require rehoming during their lifetime. A review of our previous cases in November 2021 showed that the most common ages we receive dogs are between 1-2 years old and 6-10 years old. The oldest dog we have taken in and successfully rehomed 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".