FIRST SMALL STEP NEW START FOR 100 RESCUED CHIHUAHUAS.

Byline: Karen Rubin Staff Writer

Some 100 Chihuahuas that have captured national attention since they were taken from an animal breeder in Acton last November were removed from a county shelter Monday by rescue workers.

A dozen men and women representing seven animal-rescue groups came to the Baldwin Park shelter with vans, towels and crates to take the Chihuahuas.

Since learning of the dogs' plight, Kimi Peck, founder of Chihuahua Rescue in Burbank, organized an effort to place the dogs in the hands of animal experts who will socialize them so they can be adopted.

Peck fought a nine-month battle to get the county to release the dogs to her. On Friday a Lancaster judge ruled that the dogs could be turned over to Chihuahua Rescue.

The coordinated effort Monday was Peck's attempt to provide a new beginning for dogs that had been kept in cramped, unsanitary conditions for most of their lives.

``This is like winning an Academy Award,'' Peck said, as county dog catchers handed over the Chihuahuas in cages Monday.

Prior to the handoff, pet therapist Warren Eckstein of KRLA-AM (870) radio, came to the shelter and evaluated the dogs' behavior by putting his hands up to their cages. Only a few Chihuahuas tried to bite him, but most of them were ``fear bitters'' who nipped at his knuckles and backed away.

Many of the dogs sat passively, sad-eyed and unwilling to move, their personalities deadened from years of living in horrible conditions, without love or affection, Eckstein said.

``There is not a dog here that cannot be placed in a home,'' he said, disputing earlier assessments that the Chihuahuas were beyond rehabilitation because of aggressive behavior.

Elvira Hynds of Mutts Unlimited took 10 of the dogs to foster homes in Sylmar. The dogs evaluated as a ``challenge'' were placed with her rescue group.

``We have had experience with dealing with difficult animals,'' she said. ``These dogs will probably go to homes with no children. We will find homes for them.''

Authorities took 296 animals from Emma Harter's Acton home in November. The Chihuahuas had been living in quarters so tight they formed feral packs that preyed on weaker dogs, said spokeswoman Kaye Michelson of the county animal control agency.

Harter, 72, pleaded not guilty to two felony charges of animal cruelty and six misdemeanor counts of other related charges.

On Friday, Harter refused to turn the dogs over to Peck's rescue group. She wanted the county to waive some $500,000 in impound fees, officials said.

But Lancaster Superior Court Judge Lisa Chung ruled that the county had to hand over the dogs to Chihuahua Rescue.

County authorities, meanwhile, refuse to waive those expenses, officials said, because it has cost the county $2,000 a day to keep the dogs. In the past three weeks, a veterinarian has spayed, neutered and micro-chipped about 100 of the dogs to ready them for their departure.

Karen Rubin, [phone]

karen.rubin(at)sgvn.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) Elvira Hynds of Lake View Terrace loads three of 10 Chihuahuas she was taking Monday. She was transporting them to Mutts Unlimited in Lake View Terrace, after a court order released the dogs from a county animal shelter in Baldwin Park.

(2) Empty pet crates await the animal shelter's release of 100 Chihuahuas to rescue workers.

(3) Two forlorn-looking Chihuahuas lick the fingers of a volunteer from Chihuahua Rescue at the county shelter Monday.

Jennifer Cappucio/Special to the Daily News