Dear fellow Southern Californians:

Sometimes we can be real idiots. Maybe we can be forgiven for going through that Hummer phase, where every neighbor's SUV had to be bigger than the next. Or for buying that 4,000-square-foot house we couldn't afford and abandoning ship when those “balloon payments” came due.

But this is retarded. Our inability to take care of Chihuahuas, the hot pet only a few years ago, means we're continuing to send the abandoned pets out-of-state.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' L.A. branch announced this week that it had to send 29 of the nervous little canines to Houston and will ship another 30 to Edmonton, Alberta.

Really, L.A? We're shipping dogs out like so much trash?

One good thing about our trendiness: The pets are still hip in other parts of North America, so they can more easily find homes there.

In Houston, SPCA reports six of the dogs, including one that had been languishing at a shelter here for two months, were already adopted this week.

Continental Airlines shipped the pups for free.

SPCA L.A. is seeking donations for its “Air Chihuahua” project: Call 888-772-2521, ext. 233.

First in line for a contribution should be Paris Hilton who, in our view, inadvertently sparked this trend.

-With reporting from City News Service. Got news? Email us. Follow us on Twitter, too: @dennisjromero.

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