An East Mountains animal rescue has had a very busy April after rescuing 61 dogs from an alleged hoarding situation in Socorro County.
The dogs were rescued from a property in Veguita. The East Mountain Animal Companion Project New Mexico (EMCAPNM) in Moriarty took in 61 of the 98 dogs removed from the property, and 20 of them were pregnant.
Chelsea Worley, director of operations at EMCAPNM calls the recent influx of pregnant and nursing dogs “The Chi-pocalypse.”
All of the dogs who have found temporary homes at the shelter are chihuahuas. The situation may seem reminiscent of the movie 101 Dalmatians, but Worley says that the number of dogs she plans to have under her care “will definitely be well over 100 by the time we’re all done, I would say even closer to 120.”
Worley told The Independent that six of the rescued chihuahuas have delivered puppies while under her care, and eight are expected to deliver very soon. So far, EMCAPNM has 25 new puppies and the average litter size has been four to six. All of the new foster chihuahuas are either pregnant or nursing, so they are not quite ready to be adopted.
But EMCAPNM does have plenty of dogs looking for new homes, and adopting those dogs will make room for the quickly growing pack of new pups.
“As the babies are being born, we’re going to have to move around foster homes a little bit,” Worley said. “It would be easiest if some of our current foster homes were open because their puppies had been adopted.”
EMCAPNM is a foster-based organization whose mission is to keep New Mexico dogs “out of the shelters and off Craigslist.” Worley said.
“We will take the puppies, get them vaccinated, spayed, and neutered and find homes for them, but we’ll also pay for the mom to be spayed.”
EMCAPNM finds homes for dogs through foster networks and partnerships with East Mountain shelters such as Moriarty Animal Control and the Torrance County Animal Shelter.
“We have a goal of keeping animals in their homes if possible,” Worley said. “If [pet owners] are having an emergency situation and they’re not able to seek vet care for their animal, then we might be able to help with getting that vet care paid for.”
In addition to fostering pets, EMCAPNM hosts vaccine and neuter clinics. The organization also has a food pantry where pet owners who are going through financial hardship can get help feeding their animals.
There are options for potential new dog parents who have their hearts set on adopting chihuahuas rescued specifically from the Veguita property. According to Worley, Española Animal Control rescued 10 dogs from that case and Bernalillo County Animal Resource Center has three of them. At this time, those dogs are ready to be adopted.
“Our biggest concern right now is cost, how we’re gonna pay for all these dental exams [and] potential C-sections,” Worley said. “We’ve already done a few C-sections and those are pretty costly.”
To donate to EMCAPNM or adopt a dog, visit emcapnm.org.