NEGLECTED DOGS GET NEW LEASH ON LIFE.

Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer

BURBANK - More than half of the 200 Chihuahuas rescued from squalid conditions in an Acton house in 2002 have been placed in private homes through the help of Burbank-based Chihuahua Rescue.

The dogs, rescued from a woman who this past week was convicted of animal cruelty, have been placed in settings as diverse as a Buddhist temple in Arizona and in homes as far away as Utah, although dozens remain in animal rescue centers.

``They went to about six different rescue organizations that we screened and felt confident ... could do therapy with these dogs until they were released,'' said Chihuahua Rescue founder Kimi Peck.

Peck petitioned a judge last year to give her organization the dogs, which were being kept by the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control.

The dogs, many of which were bigger than normal Chihuahuas because they were mixed breeds, were described as half-wild by county animal control officers, who were reluctant to release the animals. The judge in August released 174 of the dogs to Chihuahua Rescue, which immediately sent them off to other rescue agencies.

Jungle Mist Kennels in Santa Ana took 30 of the dogs as a charitable act, even though it specializes not in rescuing animals but in providing a home for animals whose owners are on vacation, said owner Lonnie Upchurch.

In the last month, Jungle Mist Kennels sent three of the Chihuahuas - Ollie, Sammy and Olivia - to a Buddhist temple in Sedona, Ariz., Upchurch said. The temple previously adopted other Chihuahuas directly from the L.A. County animal control department.

Upchurch said she contacted someone at the temple on the Internet, originally because she wanted to find a home for Ollie. ``He was picked on by every single dog here,'' she said.

The dogs, which had been living in crowded conditions, in which they formed feral packs, are being rehabilitated at the temple.

``They've made major headway with them,'' Upchurch said.

Chihuahua Rescue also sent some of the animals to a Utah animal sanctuary called Best Friends. The organization found homes for several of the Chihuahuas and is still working to rehabilitate others, said Best Friends spokeswoman Barbara Williamson.

An organization in Arizona called Chihuahuas Around Town also took some of the dogs, Peck said.

Peck estimated that 65 percent of the 174 animals her organization received from the county were placed in private homes. But many of the remaining dogs may be too fearful of humans to be placed, she said.

``There will be some that the rescue organizations will probably keep, that they will decide are not adoptable. But they will live their lives out at the various rescue organizations,'' she said.

More than 200 Chihuahuas were taken from the Acton home of retired cafeteria manager Emma Harter, 72, in November 2002. Dog feces littered Harter's home, which held dead and dying Chihuahuas, as well as many with diseases, and the dogs had burrowed holes in walls and furniture, according to authorities.

In an Antelope Valley courthouse this past week, a jury found Harter guilty of felony animal cruelty, plus misdemeanor counts of failure to separate sick animals, keeping animals in unsanitary conditions, animal endangerment and battery on an animal control officer.

Harter's sentencing has been set for Monday in Lancaster.

``These dogs were definitely not socialized by any stretch of the imagination by this woman,'' said Nancy Anderson, founder of the Brittany Foundation in Agua Dulce, which took 40 of the Chihuahuas.

The Brittany Foundation has only adopted out one of those Chihuahuas. Another two of the dogs are ready to be adopted, although even those dogs will not walk with a leash, Anderson said.

``And the rest are still pretty feral. We're still working with them,'' said Anderson, who added that the dogs are not highly aggressive.

``I would say they're more timid and fearful. They don't come and bite you. They run away,'' she said. ``There are some that I know will never get adopted. They just never come out of their kennels.''

Keeping all the dogs has been a financial drain on the Brittany Foundation.

``We didn't expect to keep them this long. So the housing was supposed to be temporary and unfortunately it's remained a little more stationary than we anticipated,'' she added.

Upchurch said the average age of the Chihuahuas is between 2 and 8 years old.

Peck said several of the older Chihuahuas died of natural causes, while at least one was hit by a car, and a dog sent to Arizona escaped and was never again found.

Peck, who is the ex-wife of the late actor Gregory Peck's son Steven, said her organization spent thousands of dollars to rescue the Chihuahuas, with the money coming from personal funds and donations from the public.

Alex Dobuzinskis, [phone]

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Nancy Anderson of the Brittany Foundation plays with a dog from the house in which more than 200 Chihuahuas were close to wild.

(2 -- color in AV edition only) A trio of rescued Chihuahuas stands in a pen at the Brittany Foundation in Agua Dulce. The group took in 40 of the dogs.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer