The other day, animal rescuer Priscilla Wolcott was out on the job when a concerned stranger came up to her and told her about some dogs who desperately needed her help. The Good Samaritan told Wolcott that there were two adult dogs and their puppies who’d been dumped at a nearby abandoned property.
Wolcott, an animal control officer at Fresno Humane Animal Services, assumed that there was a mom, a dad and their puppies at the abandoned property. But when she and her rescue partner arrived, they were surprised to find that it was actually two mamas with two separate litters.
Wolcott found all of the dogs nestled underneath an old trailer. As she observed them, she realized something incredible.
“What was so cute and sweet was that they were switching off nursing each other’s babies,” Wolcott told The Dodo.
Sometimes, when dogs are bonded with each other and in dire circumstances with limited milk supply, they help each other with one another’s litters.
“They just had each other,” Wolcott said. “So they kind of just … supported each other. I thought that was very amazing.”
The mama dogs did an amazing job taking care of their babies and of each other. Even though they’d been fending for themselves for days, their puppies were plump and healthy.
Wolcott gathered up all the babies and their mamas and transported them to the Fresno Humane Animal Services rescue facility.
Here’s one of the mamas, whom the rescue named Gorda, with her puppies named Iris, Lewis, Waylon and Edward:
Here’s the other mama, named Ziggy, with her puppies named Finn, Bennie, Alfred, Pandora, Breezy, Ringo, Nigel and Turner:
“The moms, they were scared,” Wolcott said. “But once we put them into a kennel and brought their babies to them, they opened up a lot more.”
In the week since Wolcott rescued the dogs, they’ve all had the chance to decompress and settle into their new environment.
“They’re still a little bit fearful, but they’re very sweet,” Wolcott said.
Now, all that’s left is for them to find forever families. Once the puppies are old enough and everyone is fixed, they’ll be ready to be adopted. After everything they’ve been through, the least all of them deserve is a safe place to call home.