Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl provided $25,000 toward assistant to abandoned chihuahuas in Los Angeles. Expenses were immediately paid for twenty-five chihuahuas shipped to New Hampshire where chis are less common and adoptive families were waiting. The trio of photos above are from the day the dogs were being shipped, in early December 2009.

The surplus of chihuahuas in Hollywood arose from the popularity of Beverly Hills Chihuahua () plus every wannabe star believing they will get some paparazi attention by walking around with the "in" puppy on leash or in purse, then turning out to be as irresponsible as they are talentless and ignored. As many as one-third of the shelter dogs in the city are thus chihuahuas.

Heigl's own dogs at home include Oscar a rescue chihuahua (she's holdinnnng him in the photo below), and Romeo a miniature Schnauzer; she has six dogs total, one of them found in a dumpster in Mexico City and brought home.

So she's by no means limited to chihuahuas in her rescue interests, it's just that chihuahuas have undergone such a population explosion in L.A. thanks to Paris Hilton, Mickey Rourke, and Beverly Hills Chihuahua making wicked sorts of people think they need one until they change their idiot minds.