When a dog that had just been saved by an animal charity hours before unexpectedly gave birth to 12 puppies, the entire organization was taken aback in disbelief.
Little Darla, a Staffordshire bull terrier pup, was dangerously close to being abandoned on the streets of Ipswich when her owners were evicted from their home.
Darla’s owners refused to abandon her, so on October 10th, they reached out for help from Blue Cross animal charity who willingly took the heavily expectant pup in.
Just two days after being taken in by a re-homing center, the one-year-old pup surprised everyone when she had 12 puppies! All of her babies are now looking for their new forever homes.
The Blue Cross Rehoming Centre has never witnessed such a massive litter, yet they are determined to get the puppies into loving families for Christmas.
Bradley Tovell, an animal welfare assistant, expressed:
Blue Cross is currently welcoming its largest litter yet, and we couldn’t be prouder of the mama! She’s been doing an incredible job caring for her new puppies. To ensure that every pup receives enough sustenance throughout the day, Blue Cross has decided to give them supplemental bottle feedings four times per day.
Darla has been so exhausted that she hasn’t had the energy to eat, which is why we have been hand-feeding her to encourage her.
When Bradley heard the call for help from Darla, who was facing giving birth on the streets, he knew that they “couldn’t turn her away”. To everyone’s relief, there were spaces available in their kennels and within two days of admitting her, she had given birth to a litter of puppies.
As the tired new mum became too drained to take care of her litter after giving birth, the compassionate team at Blue Cross stepped in and offered a helping hand – bottle feeding her puppies as well as providing nourishment for mama herself.
Bradley expounded, “Twelve puppies is an excessively large number for any pooch – and even more so when the mother dog is as petite as Darla.”
Our litter of puppies consists of six males, named Sun, Star, Galaxy, Neptune, Earth, and Jupiter; as well as six females: Moon, Comet, Mercury, Venus, Pluto, and Saturn.
Blue Cross will provide care to the entire family until the pups are self-sustaining after two months. Only then can they depart from their mother’s side with newfound independence.
The animal charity has found suitable homes for the puppies and is still endeavoring to locate a permanent home for Darla.
With any luck, the perfect gift will be discovered before Christmas arrives.