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 operate nationwide although we are based in Canterbury. We have assisted dogs from various backgrounds including animal shelters, other organizations, breeding or show kennels and private owners or their families and estates needing assistance.

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

We pride ourselves on being an ethical rescue that has a limited amount of places at one time to ensure that before each dog is adopted they are (at a minimum): de-sexed, vaccinated, micro-chipped (and registered with the New Zealand Companion Animal Register and Council),  flea and worm treated. Our dogs also receive any other necessary veterinary care unique to their situation such as dentals, blood tests, x-rays and various other operations or procedures. At times we have had to fund raise for specialist surgeries to assist them also. Our aim to ensure that any health issues are addressed prior to adoption, or disclosed to prospective Adopters matched to their unique ongoing needs.

To view our adoption or re-homing success stories please see the tab "success stories".

About Our Team:

We are a devoted, knowledgeable little team of volunteers 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 and psychology, or dog training. The dogs in our rescue are nursed through their medical procedures. We identify behavioral issues and begin their training. Our goal is to set about shaping these dogs into well-adjusted pets and match them to owners that suit their needs. 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   

Our Aims:

• To rescue, rehabilitate and rehome Chihuahuas and Chihuahua-crosses firstly, as a breed specific rescue. As well as other toy breeds (where we have capacity to do so).

• 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 behaviorally. Our goal being to adopt the dogs into forever loving homes that are best suited to their individual personalities and requirements.

• To recieve 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 de-sexed. 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 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 less dogs needing assistance in New Zealand overall.

What Type of 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, behavioral 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, 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".