The Peninsula Humane Society is offering to pay $20 to owners of Chihuahuas in San Francisco and San Mateo counties who bring their dogs in to be spayed or neutered.
The offer is a response to an overpopulation of Chihuahuas in animal shelters all over the Bay Area, PHS spokesman Scott Delucchi said.
The breed now accounts for more than 20 percent of dogs that are brought into the shelter at the PHS, which now has around 25 Chihuahuas or Chihuahua mixes available for adoption, Delucchi said.
The most common reason the little dogs with big personalities are left at the shelter is because they don't play well with or tolerate children in the family, Delucchi said.
The cash incentive was made possible by a donation from Vanessa Getty and will be in effect indefinitely, according to the PHS.
All surgeries will be performed free of charge at the PHS/SPCA's Spay/ Neuter Clinic, located at 12 Airport Blvd. in San Mateo.
In addition to the cash incentive for spaying and neutering services, the PHS has offered to waive adoption fees for Chihuahuas.
Chihuahuas and other dogs available for adoption can be viewed
online at www.PHS-SPCA.org.
--Bay City News Service
