A senior black lab is slowly recuperating after giving birth to 21 puppies.
While her near-record-breaking litter may sound like cause for celebration, her journey has been marked with anguish as well as pity from a community of animal lovers who want nothing but the best for her.
On October 24, a black lab, estimated to be between seven and eight years old, was brought to the Boone Area Humane Society in Boone, Iowa. She appeared to be in labour and in septic shock.
She was airlifted to the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University for further treatment.
“She came in the back of a pickup truck, unresponsive,” Vanessa Heenan of the Boone Area Humane Society told the Ames Tribune. “Her abdominal area was swollen, her nipples were enlarged; you could tell she’d nursed pups recently, at least in the past.”
After around 24 hours of labour, the dog gave birth to two puppies. The first was stillborn, while the second died shortly after birth.
The vets quickly realised she needed an emergency C-section.
As the vets proceeded to offer care and save puppy after puppy, the bill rose.
The shelter couldn’t afford it, so they turned to their community for help.
So far, they’ve raised around $20,000 in donations.
Unfortunately, on October 26, all of the puppies died. Despite their mother’s transfusion, half of the puppies died, and the other puppies were not far enough along to live.
Heenan does not believe she was a victim of a puppy mill or that hormones were used, but she could have been inseminated by a large number of male dogs.
The shelter is aware of the dog’s owner and has claimed that they are working with an attorney to see what can be done, but that “with Iowa’s weak animal protection laws, it’s always an uphill battle.”
Vets are now focusing on helping the senior dog recuperate. She began to improve mere days after her excruciatingly traumatic birth.
She remains “weak,” but she is “doing so much better.” ISU vets will begin weaning her off pain medication and water, according to a Facebook post.
She will be released from the hospital once she has recovered and placed in a foster household to finish her recovery.
If you would like to help this mama dog recover, please visit the Boone Area Humane Society’s Facebook page or contact ISU College of Vet Med at 515-294-4900.
It crushes my heart to see an animal in such pain. How could anyone have let this helpless animal suffer like this?
Please spread this prayer for her continued healing and for the person or individuals responsible to face justice.
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