Katherine Heigl Saves Puppies!

If you weren't already a fan of Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl, you might be now: The actress just helped save 25 Chihuahuas and other little lapdogs from being euthanized at Los Angeles area shelters.

Heigl, the owner of four dogs and a well-known activist for canine-kind, personally paid "thousands of dollars" for the adorable pups to be flown from La-La Land (where there's an overpopulation of the cute little pooches) all the way to the Humane Society of Greater Nashua in the state of New Hampshire, where demand for the pint-sized pets is high.

As first reported by WMUR-TV Channel 9 in Manchester, NH, the dogs Katherine saved — which arrived in the Granite State on Wednesday — should be ready for adoption by this Saturday at 10 a.m., and will likely all find homes quickly.

Chihuahuas are actually the second most euthanized dog species in the state of California — second only to pit bulls. That's a fact that Nashua Humane Society's Animal Care director Tammy DeVito found shocking.

"Being at the shelter for 10 years, we don’t have any issues placing Chihuahuas," DeVito tells Tonic. "We have a lot of people come in who want them, and typically we have to refer them to breeders because we don’t have them."

The overabundance of Chihuahuas and other lapdogs in L.A.-area shelters might be attributed to the idolization of celebs (such as Paris Hilton) who are photographed while carrying their little dogs everywhere; or the popularity of films such as Beverly Hills Chihuahua that inspire kids to beg their parents for a pup of their own, experts say. Unfortunately, many owners give up those dogs once they realize they're not "accessories" and actually require some pet-parenting skills.

Up in hardscrabble New Hampshire, though, the little dogs are hard to come by, so the Nashua shelter was happy to take them in. The arrangements were facilitated by Laurel Kinder, who runs a private animal rescue program in L.A. — but it never could have happened without funding to fly the pups cross-country.

From the get-go, "Katherine Heigl was very interested in assisting with this," says DeVito. "That’s how it all came about."

The shelter has already been flooded with calls from potential pet owners.

"A few [of the dogs] will be held back," says DeVito. "We had a couple that need to gain weight, and one that’s just a little bit afraid. But most that came will be going up for adoption on Saturday."

As part of the arrangement, five of the dogs were also taken in by the Salem Animal Rescue League a few miles away.

Heigl just wrapped a film and is taking some time off to be with her family, her rep tells Tonic, so she could not be reached for comment.

Katherine Heigl photo by Ferdaus Shamim/Getty Images

Chihuahua photo by -po via Flickr