Since first meeting Fifi, Community Animal Project staffers have been rooting for her to be relinquished to PETA’s care. For years, my fellow fieldworkers and I have urged the charming Chihuahua’s owner to give us the chance to trade potato-sized Fifi’s year-round life outdoors—where she was regularly exposed to suffering, abuse, neglect, and sadness—for one of health, happiness, and family. Earlier this month, my coworker Alex and I got the call we’d been waiting for: Fifi’s owner wanted to surrender the dog to PETA. Then we heard the rest: Fifi had been attacked by another dog—“her eye is hanging out of her head,” reported her owner, who feared sweet Fifi wouldn’t make it without PETA’s help. Alex all but peeled out, rerouting our van for the Chihuahua’s address.
Now, if you thought Fifi was in so much pain that she was going to abandon her signature move—belly up, paws down—upon our arrival, think again. The trademark maneuver was the first thing she did as Alex bounded down from the driver’s seat!
She may be Yukon gold in color, but if Fifi (pictured here in October 2024) truly were a potato, she’d be a sweet one!
Although Fifi’s eyeball wasn’t quite hanging out of her head, it had been displaced from its socket. She was in need of urgent medical care, which her owner admitted they were unable to afford. Given that temperatures were about to plummet into the 20s, Alex and I were extra relieved to be rushing Fifi to warmth and safety.
See you tater, “backyard dog” life!
Back at PETA’s animal shelter, Fifi continued to be a positive potato. She enjoyed all the love and attention from PETA staffers, and she snuggled in for a good night’s sleep indoors, possibly her first ever. The very next morning, on one of PETA’s mobile clinics, Fifi was spayed and her right eyeball was removed. She was vaccinated and deemed healthy enough to recover at home with a PETA staffer.
In foster care, Fifi was quick to prove that some things never change …
… and that being a one-eyed potato doesn’t mean she’s any less of a big peel. Fifi’s foster guardian reports that while Fifi is roughly 10 years old, the Chihuahua is far from expiring. “She’s very bouncy and loves roaming the yard,” Fifi’s foster family says. While Fifi has proved she’s quick to adapt to just about anything and anyone, she also seems happy to be her person’s one and only companion animal.
Fifi is ready to meet her new best spuddy!
So, what are you waiting for? E-mail Adopt@peta.org if you want this sweet Chi to only have an eye for you.
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