Dog takes on orphaned puppies in TN

Though many animal shelters leave much to be desired, there are some that go above and beyond for their homeless charges. Such is the case at the Bedford County Animal Control where orphaned, newborn puppies have been given a second chance due to a nurturing surrogate mother.

In early December, a man discovered seven orphaned newborn puppies. The puppies had lost their mother - someone had either abandoned her or dumped her and she had been struck and killed on a nearby road.

The man took the newborn pups to the Bedford County Animal Control where staff did their best to care for the orphaned babies.

Shelter staff member, Brenda Goodrich, shared her plight with rescue contacts on Facebook and then something wonderful happened. Goodrich found another rescuer that had a mother Pit Bull with milk, but no puppies.

Nobody knows what happened to the homeless Pit bull's babies, but what they did know what that the stray was gentle, and perhaps she could help these 7 orphaned pups.

Motherly instinct on the part of the homeless Pit Bull, and the natural instinct of a newborn pup to nurse on the part of the young babies.

The new mom quickly took to her orphaned charges - nurturing them as if they were her own. The mother, and the 7 puppies, will all be in need of new homes as soon as the pups are weaned.

The mother that so graciously and warmly took on pups that were not her own has had a hard life of abuse. Her body is covered in scars and a portion of her front paw is missing. Her body is damaged, but not her spirit, and not her soul.

The Bedford County Animal Control is located at 205 Lane Parkway, Shelbyville, TN 37160, Phone: 931-685-1130.

Dog in Germany gives birth to 17 puppies

A dog in Germany has given birth to 17 puppies, leaving their owner thrilled but fatigued after having to feed them with a bottle for several weeks because their mother couldn't cope with the demand.

Owner Ramona Wegemann said Monday she barely slept for more than a couple of minutes without interruption during about four weeks in an "exhausting" struggle to make sure all of the purebred Rhodesian Ridgeback puppies would survive.

She said when she was "finished feeding the last puppy, the first was hungry again."

Wegemann's dog Etana gave birth to eight female and nine male puppies on Sept. 28 in Ebereschenhof, which is near Berlin.

At least five times a day, Wegemann gave the dogs a bottle with special milk because their mother's nipples could have never coped with the demand, and when the puppies were not hungry, they wanted to be entertained, she said.

Wegemann said when dogs give birth to so many puppies several of them die within the first week. "But all of our puppies survived. This is incredible and wonderful," the 32-year-old added.

But caring for 17 puppies turned out to be a full-time job: Wegemann put her work as an independent animal psychiatrist on a hold and her husband took as much vacation as he could.

Their lives have been turned upside down by the puppies, and their living room is now occupied by a giant box that houses the puppies.

But even Wegemann still struggles to recognize them: The females puppies are called Bahati, Binta, Bahya, Bashima, Batouuli, Binki, Bora, Bisa and the male ones are Baakir, Banjoku, Belay, Bruk, Bundu, Bayo, Bukekayo, Biton and Bulus.

Wegemann gave them all African names because the Rhodesian Ridgeback is an African hunting dog. Wegeman and her husband now plan to give most of the puppies away.

Four of the puppies have been sold, two more are already paid for and will leave their siblings shortly.

Purrfect family: injured dog at Edmonton shelter nurses 5 pups and a kitten

Esperanza had been badly injured when she was hit by a car, but the young dog was still managing to care for her newborn puppies - and a kitten - when she was found on a central Alberta reserve.

Criss Gerwing, who runs a small animal rescue group, discovered the dog earlier this month and couldn't believe it when the canine led her to her blended brood.

"I cried because she was in such bad condition with her leg, but she was obviously nursing her puppies and this kitten," Gerwing told a media outlet.

Gerwing took the entire family to the Edmonton Humane Society, where veterinarians thought they'd have to amputate the mother dog's bad leg.But local vet, Dr. Milton Ness, volunteered to do a special surgery that saved Esperanza's hind quarter.He calls her a "special soul."

"She is such a sweet, sweet dog. She has such a wonderful personality," Randoph said.

"It's amazing when you think about it. You have this dog who is just so giving of herself, caring for these newborn puppies and the kitten, making sure they were cared for even though she was obviously in a lot of pain."

Jacob the cat was already four months old and shouldn't have been nursing at all, so humane society vets weaned him and he's now being cared for by a staff member.

The devoted mother is recovering well. She and her pups will go into foster care after the holidays until permanent homes can be found for them. But the humane society ideally would like Esperanza and Jacob to be adopted together.