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With Disney's new animated feature Beverly Hills Chihuahua slated for release on Oct 3, animal defenders like your good homies here at PETA are readying our disaster-prevention tactics. While it's sure to be an adorable film, the fantasy world it portrays can have devastating unintended effects. Remember the live-action 101 Dalmatians movie and its sequel? Immediately after the films, there were enormous spikes in demand for spotted pups. In the months after the release of each film, the number of Dalmatians who were abandoned at animal shelters tripled throughout the country. They outnumbered every other breed in 1996. According to an animal-shelter official, someone would turn in a Dalmatian and tell the workers, "This dog didn't act like Pongo in the movie."

Apparently, watching professionally trained dogs perform adorable tricks gives some people the illusion that those breeds naturally behave that way—and then they can't wait to take one home. Unrealistic expectations like this can create a dangerous trend. The impulsive purchases that ensue mean that the dirty backyard-breeding market booms. Ultimately, animal shelters overflow. Now can you see why we're not so happy about this Chihuahua movie?

Disney has included a disclaimer on its Web site and at the end of the film about the lifelong responsibility of taking in an animal companion. Quite impressively, they even encourage people to adopt rather than purchase an animal. While this is sure to do some good, it isn't enough. Not everyone will visit the site, and very few people will stay through the credits of a kids' movie. There was time early on for Disney to put signs in movie theaters and speak out to urge people not to buy Chihuahuas—to let people know that if they do buy the cute little dogs, it means a death sentence for dogs in animal shelters.

Now, if you find yourself among the responsible animal guardians who simply must adopt a beautiful Chihuahua—or you have friends who'd like to—please visit petfinder.com to view a listing of the thousands of animals—including purebreds—who are sitting in your local animal shelters right now. You can search by breed in animal shelters across the nation—and help save quite a few lives in the process.

Posted by Missy Lane

As you can imagine, PETA hears about lots of cases of cruelty to animals. For folks who love animals as much as we do, that's never fun, but we can't make things better if we bury our heads in the sand. Still, it takes a lot to really strike a nerve with us, but one recent case stands out.

Carrie Cagata, James Cullen, and Shannon Kraham of Fort Myers, Florida, have been charged with multiple counts of cruelty to animals and animal abandonment. Lee County deputies reportedly found more than 80 dogs, cats, and other animals who had been entrusted to the trio malnourished or dead. While that's awful, it's not entirely unusual (unfortunately), but this is: Cagata is the owner of My Best Friend Inc., a supposed animal rescue organization. Detectives are alleging that she adopted abandoned animals from animal shelters and then tried to sell them for a profit—if the animals didn't sell, the detectives claim, they were apparently shipped off to "the farm," where they were left to starve.

While starving and abandoning animals is horrible enough, to do so while allegedly pretending to be rescuing them is over-the-top hideous—and an insult to the wonderful people who operate legitimate rescue groups. We fired off a letter to the head of the felony division of the Florida attorney's office, demanding that this case be prosecuted vigorously.

The letter also stated, "On behalf of our thousands of members and supporters in Florida, we respectfully ask that, if convicted and in addition to serving a period of incarceration, the three defendants (and any codefendants later named) be required to undergo psychological evaluations followed by mandatory counseling at their own expense." You can read the full letter here.

Posted by Jeff Mackey