Mark R. Madler
The operator of a controversial dog shelter intends to move out of
the city earlier than a court-imposed October deadline.
Chihuahua Rescue could be closed by the end of September if not
earlier as operator Kimi Peck will move the animals to a 100-acre
ranch in another part of the state, where she will have a sanctuary
for the dogs and continue her rescue efforts.
Peck backed off from stated plans to retire from her rescue
efforts following what she said was an outpouring of support of
people who have adopted the dogs from her.
"A lot of people have been so upset, they have called and begged
me to continue because of the good I do," Peck said Thursday. "I
won't rescue at the scale I have been but I will continue.
"It would be a tragedy to the Chihuahua breed if I retired."
Peck and Chihuahua Rescue gained national attention in August 2003
when they took legal action in a case of 175 feral Chihuahuas taken
from a ranch in Acton.
A Los Angeles County judge later ruled that Peck's group could
have the dogs placed into foster homes rather than euthanizing them.
In June, Peck pleaded no contest in Burbank Superior Court to a
municipal code violation of insufficient record keeping for three of
the more than 200 animals at her shelter and agreed to move the
facility out of the city. Peck has an Oct. 26 deadline to shut down
her facility in the 400 block of Moss Street
Other misdemeanor charges of not providing clean water and having
unclean conditions for the animals were dropped against Peck.
A status hearing on the case took place Monday in which Burbank
Superior Court Commissioner Kirkland R. Nyby was informed of the
number of dogs the facility had.
As of Thursday, there were 180 animals at the facility, Peck said.
That number was higher than the 88 dogs Nyby was told were at the
facility in mid-July and Peck explained the number was higher because
dogs that had been boarded at other sites were brought back to the
Burbank facility.
"The prime consideration is that she get into compliance and lower
her number of dogs and have her operation relocated," Assistant City
Atty. Greg Caplan said.
The case is scheduled to return to Burbank Superior Court on Sept.
28.
When the case was before Nyby in July, it generated much media
coverage due to former volunteers who came to the Burbank Courthouse
to denounce Peck and detailed alleged abusive and unsanitary
conditions at the shelter.
"To us, it looked like someone with a history of not caring
