Chihuahua

RICHMOND, Calif. - A Northern California woman said that her Chihuahua died protecting her children from two pit bulls that got into her apartment. Mayda Estrella, of Richmond, said that the family's Chihuahua, named Manchas, jumped in between the canine invaders and her 4-year-old son on Sunday. A pit bull grabbed Manchas with its jaws and carried the Chihuahua away. Contra Costa County animal services officials said that the Chihuahua was killed, and the pit bulls are now in custody.

A South Philadelphia woman from whom animal cruelty agents seized 88 Chihuahuas and Chihuahua mixes along with other animals two weeks ago was charged today with 134 counts of animal cruelty, the Pennsylvania SPCA announced. The brief announcement did not name the woman, who lives on Earp Street near 7th, but neighbors called her "Frannie. " Municipal Court records identified the woman as Frances Rotonta, 49. The Chihuahuas and other animals, along with two cats and the remains of two dead dogs, were found in a July 14 raid on the house, after, according to some neighbors, a year of complaints to various authorities.

In the past, I've written unkind words about tiny dogs. I thoughtlessly said that all they're good for is being tied to long sticks to wash windows or being sprayed with Endust and shoved under beds to collect lint. But now I must apologize, and never again will I say such things. Not after hearing of the bold and amazing feat of a little Chihuahua named Rocky. Rocky lives with his owners in Key Largo, Fla., which is where he recently gained fame and admiration. It happened when he took a stroll around the neighborhood.

"Yo! Taco Bell. " Passing motorists and pedestrians shout that greeting all the time to Lillian Rosania's chihuahua, Corky, says Rosania, who helps out at a South Philadelphia pet shop. Rosania didn't buy Corky at the pet shop, Paws & Claws, on Passyunk Avenue near Mifflin Street. A friend gave him to her. But she says more customers are coming into the pet store asking for chihuahuas since Taco Bell, a chain of Mexican fast-food restaurants, began TV commercials featuring the tiny, big-eared canines.

Dion Rayford, a 270-pound University of Kansas football player, got stuck in the drive-thru window of a Taco Bell when he allegedly tried to charge employees who left a chalupa out of his order. Rayford, a 6-3 senior defensive end, was suspended for tomorrow's game against Iowa State, the last game of his college career. He had started all 11 games this season. He was released on his own recognizance after appearing in court Wednesday on charges of disorderly conduct, having an open container of alcohol and misdemeanor damage to property.

Pee Wee the chihuahua surveys the 3300 block of Hope Street in Kensington in style from the shoulder of Carnita Washington. If he needed the sweater yesterday, owner Lordes Bigil may be shopping for a doggy parka by tomorrow.

The main opposition party continued protests yesterday against alleged fraud in an election earlier this month in Mexico's largest state as officials prepared to release the results of the vote. The Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which hasn't lost a gubernatorial or presidential election since its founding in 1929, has claimed a sweeping victory in the state of Chihuahua. But the conservative National Action Party, or PAN, is seeking annulment of the elections, claiming that ballot boxes were stuffed and stolen, and that PAN representatives were ejected from polling places.

When Sonia Barsky heard that Carlos Fuentes' novel Old Gringo was being made into a film, her first question was, "Who's playing Pancho Villa?" This was not the idle query of a lifelong moviegoer who, at 88, is the same age as film itself. This was curiosity about a man who played a decisive cameo in her life, much the same way Pedro Armendariz Jr. plays a decisive cameo as Villa in the Jane Fonda-Gregory Peck epic that opened Oct. 6. "My Dinner With Pancho" is how Barsky family members refer to their matriarch's tale of her repast with the Mexican revolutionary.

Chinese cresteds, tiny dogs that usually are hairless except for floppy tufts on their lower legs, skulls, ears and tails, will become on Feb. 1 the American Kennel Club's 132d registered breed. Cresteds are odd-looking or beautiful, depending on the eye of the beholder. In addition to the hairless, tufted ones, there are less-common "powder puffs," which, in addition to the tufts, have a veil of soft silky hair over their bodies. Both types come in all colors; many are spotted.

His technical-school students used to give Carlos Tena Flores grief about his day job as a production manager for Honeywell. "They would tell me I was an imperialist exploiter for working at a maquiladora," he remembers. That was in 1978. By 1984, however, "they were asking me when I was going to give them a plant tour and how they could get into the business. " Tena Flores' own career may have inspired some of those changing attitudes. In 11 years as a Honeywell manager, he has done well, moving up through the management ranks of the Minnesota-based company's assembly plant here, while teaching business courses in the evenings.

Tyrirk Harris, the Tacony man who riddled his neighbor with bullets in February after the man complained about Harris' dogs relieving themselves on his lawn, fired out of fear, his attorney told a Judge Tuesday. Franklin Manuel Santana, 47, was legally drunk and leveled threats when he came to Harris' front door on Torresdale Avenue between Magee Avenue and Hellerman Street on Feb. 14, defense lawyer Jack McMahon said during a preliminary hearing. Harris, 27, was minding his own business when Santana "invaded his domain, his castle," said McMahon, who argued that the most serious charge his client should face is voluntary manslaughter.

A South Philadelphia woman from whom animal cruelty agents seized 88 Chihuahuas and Chihuahua mixes along with other animals two weeks ago was charged today with 134 counts of animal cruelty, the Pennsylvania SPCA announced. The brief announcement did not name the woman, who lives on Earp Street near 7th, but neighbors called her "Frannie. " Municipal Court records identified the woman as Frances Rotonta, 49. The Chihuahuas and other animals, along with two cats and the remains of two dead dogs, were found in a July 14 raid on the house, after, according to some neighbors, a year of complaints to various authorities.

Humane officers wearing Tyvek protective suits and air-filter masks to enter a South Philadelphia rowhouse Wednesday afternoon collected 50 chihuahuas - and that was just from the first floor of the three-story residence in the 700 block of Earp Street. From the street, the stench of dog urine was hard to ignore. Inside, dog feces was everywhere, said George Bengal, director of law enforcement for the Pennsylvania SPCA. A woman in her 50s lived the house, Bengal said. A neighbor said the woman's husband lived there, too, but he was laying low nearby while the PSPCA was collecting the animals.

The discovery of two dead dogs complicates the legal case involving the hoarding of 85 live chihuahuas and chihuahua mixes at a South Philadelphia home. Investigators are trying to determine if the dogs died of natural causes. If neglect or abuse was involved, the homeowner could face misdemeanor charges, according to Liz Williamson, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania SPCA. For each of the 85 living dogs, and two cats also found, a summary offense of unsanitary confinement could be charged, with a possible 90 days in jail and a $750 fine, Williamson said.

RICHMOND, Calif. - A Northern California woman said that her Chihuahua died protecting her children from two pit bulls that got into her apartment. Mayda Estrella, of Richmond, said that the family's Chihuahua, named Manchas, jumped in between the canine invaders and her 4-year-old son on Sunday. A pit bull grabbed Manchas with its jaws and carried the Chihuahua away. Contra Costa County animal services officials said that the Chihuahua was killed, and the pit bulls are now in custody.

Dognappers have struck again in Delaware County, this time swiping a high-priced Chihuahua from a Springfield pet shop. Police reported that a man in his 20s stole the light-gray dog Saturday morning from We Love Pets, on Baltimore Pike, then climbed into his getaway driver's silver Ford pickup truck. The purloined pup - valued at $1,400 - is the third dog stolen from that store this year. In January, a pair of brazen dog-snatchers grabbed a black pug and a maltipom and escaped in a Cadillac Escalade waiting out back.

I'M FROM Philadelphia, and I'm proud. It's not just because the Phillies are back in the World Series. Truth is, I've come to expect excellence from my hometown baseball team. It's not the cheesesteaks, either, although the grease orgy that passes for a Philly sandwich is a caloric delight that most cities are unworthy of serving. Baseball and food aside, real Philadelphians know that there's one abiding reason to be proud of our hometown, and that's our grit . This is not to say that other cities aren't gritty.

The low rumble was a warning. "Hi, boy," Camden animal control officer Chris McGarry said as he gently maneuvered the noose of a snare around the white-and-brown mutt's neck. "Don't you growl at me now," McGarry warned, but the growl idled higher, like a revving car engine, until it exploded in an anxious bark. McGarry expertly tightened the snare and hoisted the dog into the back of his van. With that, another stray animal had been rescued from the streets of Camden, where there are more calls like the one reporting this stray dog than in any other New Jersey city.

Dawnette Knight is a sane woman - legally speaking. The woman charged with one felony count of stalking and 24 felony counts of making criminal threats to Catherine Zeta-Jones has been deemed mentally fit to stand trial by a court-appointed psychiatrist. Knight, 33, a self-described aspiring psychologist, is the woman so obsessed with Michael Douglas that she wished to permanently remove the actor's wife. She is being held on $1 mil bail and will next be in court for a Sept. 8 status hearing.

It is the legal equivalent of a judge running screaming from the courthouse: a desperate order in which Bucks County Judge John J. Rufe recused himself from a case called Litzenberger v. Gimelson. "Forests have been decimated to provide pulp and paper so that the parties could vent their fury on each other," the judge wrote last month. "This insane litigation . . . has been like banging our head against the wall. It will feel good to stop. We recuse. " Such public ridicule from a judge is extraordinary.