A Chihuahua's Face Magically Appears in a Blueberry Muffin

Is Kaelin Bell's pet dog the new Virgin Mary of baked goods? We wonder.

Usually, when I read about people who see a striking resemblance between their food and something else, the story tends towards the religious. There's a whole tradition of Jesus and his mother spontaneously making appearances on toast, muffins, Marmite lids, breakfast tacos, and the occasional cluster of shower mold. Some people find these not only inspirational, but financially profitable.

In 2005, Donna Lee of Point Place, Ohio, was cooking pierogis for Easter when she found one with the face of Jesus. The divine pierogi went for $1,775 on eBay. But as divinely decorated baked goods go, that was chicken feed. The year before, a grilled-cheese sandwich with Jesus' face sold for $28,000. (Last year, Michael Leaverton documented how Jesus appeared on a dog's "caboose," but we don't think the dog's owner resorted to selling the holy canine.)

In that context, my first thought on reading about Kaelin Bell was to wonder whether a religion might sprout up around Chico, her pet Chihuahua. The 14-year-old posted a picture on her Tumblr page comparing Chico to the blueberry muffin that she was about to eat.

"My blueberry muffin looks exactly like my dog," she wrote. "I'm gonna cry."

Whereas the pierogi, the grilled-cheese sandwich, and even the Shroud of Turin look like cases of desperately overactive imaginations to me, I have to admit: There is an uncanny resemblance in this photo between Chico and the muffin. They're both kind of adorable, actually.

Unlike the three things above, it doesn't look like Kaelin and her family will get much money from the muffin.

"I couldn't eat it," she told The Huffington Post. "So we froze it in a plastic bag. My dad is wondering if we'll be able to sell it, but, so far, no one has offered to buy it."

On the other hand, thanks to coverage of the funny photo by Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, and now us, Chico might well be on the way to being the next Internet meme, which is kind of like becoming a religious figure. And, as we saw with the Jamaican bobsled team yesterday, sometimes the right meme can be worth money.

Kaelin is very excited about all the attention, but she says that Chico has remained blissfully unaware of all the fuss.

"Today, he just laid in bed," she told HuffPo. "He's now realizing he's an Internet sensation."

Via The Huffington Post and Kaelin's Tumblr

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Rocket Dog Rescue Saves Nine Chihuahuas from Hoarders

Volunteers from San Francisco nonprofit Rocket Dog Rescue are preparing for a second trip to Bakersfield after traveling there last weekend to rescue nine Chihuahuas from a dog-hoarding situation.

Rocket Dog founder Pali Boucher says that two of the dogs have already found new homes, two are in foster homes that might become permanent, and the others are being fostered.

About 50 dogs were in the home, which she described as “awful living conditions.”

“They are all around a year old, and extremely sweet and loving despite what they have been through,” Boucher wrote on Rocket Dog Rescue’s Facebook page.

She says she is not sure how many dogs she and other volunteers will bring back from Bakersfield when they return.

Despite the horrific environment the dogs were found in, Boucher says, the woman who was keeping the dogs is working with Rocket and other rescue groups. “That’s the way I like to help,” Boucher says, “before animal control steps in, as long as we have a system in place and the person is willing to work with us.”

Asked to describe the Bakersfield site, she says, “Whenever you have 50 animals in one given place, you’re going to have a very cluttered and very dirty environment -- it’s going to look pretty harsh.”

The woman holding the dogs called Rocket Dog Rescue directly; Boucher says she believes the woman was trying to help the dogs, but somehow the situation got out of hand. Unfortunately, this is all too common in dog-hoarding situations.

The health problems in this group of Chihuahuas include cases of demodectic mange and some pneumonia. “We’re pretty good at trouble-shooting some pretty serious illnesses,” Boucher says, adding that just getting a large group of rescue animals spayed and neutered can cost thousands of dollars.

The first group of dogs taken by Rocket Dog were mostly in good health -- and that was intentional. Boucher says when there are a lot of animals to be rescued, she’ll take the ones in better condition first because they can find foster and permanent homes more readily. Volunteers will return to get dogs with more serious medical needs and behavioral problems who could take longer to rehabilitate. Older dogs, which are also harder to place, are also included in the later rounds of rescue.

Late last week Rocket received the call and coordinated with other rescue groups in California, including Nuts’n Bolts Animal Advocates in the city of Madera. 

“We really believe in working together as a team,” Boucher says. “We’re not territorial.” The first phone call indicated that about 25 animals were at the site, whereas 50 were discovered.

Small dogs such as Chihuahuas used to be relatively rare in shelters, Boucher says, but now they are among the most common. A recent case involved 16 Chihuahuas in a small apartment in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District. The animals' owner moved to the Philippines, simply leaving the animals behind.

The situation in Bakersfield and surrounding Kern County is indeed dire, Boucher says. Statistics from the Kern County Animal Control website reflect this. In 2011, slightly more than 1,800 dogs were adopted from the shelter, whereas around 10,000 were euthanized. The numbers for cats are lower but the adoption-to-death ration is worse. About 500 cats were adopted from the shelter, while more than 7,800 were put to death.

Asked the reason for this, Boucher cites overpopulation. “There’s just no place to put these guys,” she says.

To adopt one of the rescued Chihuahuas, donate toward the cost of the dogs' care, or offer volunteer services, visit the Rocket Dog Rescue website.

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