Kari Mogensen just wanted to help unwanted Chihuahuas, the second most euthanized dog breed in her home state of Arkansas. So in 2012, she started Arkansas Chihuahua Rescue, a private rescue operating out of her home in North Little Rock. Private rescues have a big impact on saving lives, often taking on the responsibility of the ill or older pets that shelters don’t have the staff or funds for. They normally run out of a person’s home or several homes as a network of fosters, so her plan was not unusual.
That year, she helped rescue several Chihuahuas from a hoarding situation:
But two years after she started her rescue, Animal Control came to her door because someone had complained about the barking beagles that lived next door. When the Animal Control Officer heard her dogs, he asked her how many she had. At the time, she had ten Chihuahuas – a few personal dogs as well as a few fosters that were from the North Little Rock Shelter. These dogs were “so sick that I couldn’t get them adopted out,” she told iHeartDogs.
She told the officer how many she had and produced all her paperwork, vet records, etc. He did not issue her a citation, but told her to email them information, which she did. But that wasn’t the end of it. A week later, the same officer showed up to her house after dark, asking to come inside. Even with ten dogs in the house, it was very clean:
He proceeded to give her a citation for being over the limit on animals. She was left aghast at what had just happened.
Prior to moving to North Little Rock, Mogensen said she had done her research and had been told by someone at the city that their limit on dogs (4) only applied to outdoor dogs. Hers were all kept inside.
“When I moved in I had 3 cats and 5 dogs,” Mogensen says. “Prior to 2012, I fostered many dogs and cats for local rescue groups and even a rescue group up north.”
The original “crew”:
She thought she was doing everything right. She had always kept her dogs indoors, had security cameras in place for when she was not home, and came back every lunch break to let them out to go to the bathroom.
Despite all of this, her city’s ordinances do not cover rescues. According to Mogensen, North Little Rock has a kennel license, a breeder’s license, and a litter license, but their ordinances say nothing about rescues. A kennel is defined by the city as:
“An establishment wherein any person engages in the business of boarding, breeding, buying, grooming, letting for hire, training for a fee, or selling dogs or other animals.”
“Some days I feel like I’m suffering from PTSD from all that I went through with it,” she said. “I was under the impression I’d be allowed to get a permit to keep more than four in my home, like my friend with the cat rescue. He was given a permit to be over the limit and he had 35 cats.”
Mogensen dealt with court proceedings for a year and a half over the dogs, which the city wanted removed. Even though she was a non-profit rescue, with all the appropriate paperwork and even letters from neighbors saying her dogs were not nuisances (which she says the judge never looked at), the decision was made. She was told she could not have that many dogs.
But she knew if she gave up the injured or ill fosters, they would be put down. She had just one choice – to move.
“I’m glad I moved,” she said. “I’m sad and miss my home, especially since I’d just started fixing it all up, but I know I’d been sadder had I given away my family. It was traumatic for me, but I’d do it all over again if I needed to for my animals. I moved completely out of the city. I had to rent my home out to some renters who don’t really keep it up like it should be. It’s heartbreaking.”
Stitch, one of Mogensen’s currently adoptable dogs.
She now has to commute to the city for her work, which leaves her less time with her rescue dogs – something that bothers her. But she keeps on rescuing, because she knows these Chihuahuas need her. If you are looking for a Chihuahua, be sure to check out her adoptable dogs.
