Mama Dog Loses All 21 Puppies After Being Dumped At Shelter With Labor Complications
A senior dog that was dropped off at the Boone Area Humane Society shelter while pregnant has lost all 21 of her puppies. Thankfully, she is now in stable condition after a scary and quite dangerous pregnancy, and nearly $20,000 was raised for her by community members.
According to estimates, the mother dog went through labor for approximately 24 hours before being released to the Boone shelter on Saturday around 10 a.m. Immediately after that, she was rushed to the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine to receive more extensive care.
Upon arrival, the dog was stabilized and then examined, and the ultrasound confirmed the pregnancy. The mother dog then quickly went into labor and gave birth to two puppies: the first was stillborn, and the second died minutes later. The dog was then prepped for an emergency cesarean section by ISU vet med staff.
The shelter was informed at that point that the bill would be around $8,000, but thankfully, more than $17,000 was raised after the shelter took to social media and asked people for help. The mother dog is past the recommended age for breeding and is estimated to be between 7 and 8 years old.
“She came in the back of a pickup truck, unresponsive," Boone Area Humane Society director Vanessa Heenan said.
"Her abdominal area was swollen, her nipples were enlarged; you could tell she’d nursed pups recently, at least in the past."
The shelter's funds have been low because of COVID and needed some extra help from the community.
“After realizing her blood values were down and that she was septic, that’s when the price estimate went up to $18,000-20,000," Heenan said. "So we reached out to the public immediately, just because our funds have been depleted due to COVID."
Heenan believes that the dog wasn't taking hormones and most likely wasn't a victim of a puppy mill.
“I think she’s had a lot of litters and her uterus has been expanded,” Heenan said. “It also could have been that she was inseminated by multiple male dogs, so this could be two separate litters.”
According to Heenan, half the puppies couldn't survive even after receiving blood transfusions since they were too underdeveloped to survive, and the other half were stillborn.
According to the American Kennel Club, Labrador retrievers have an average of seven puppies per litter. The largest dog litter is 24 puppies, which is currently the Guinness World Record.
“Having 21 puppies is extremely high, especially considering this mama dog wasn’t under the care of a veterinarian,” said Mindi Callison, founder of the Ames-based group Bailing Out Benji. “A responsible breeder would have had a scheduled C-section and would have had the mom and pups under veterinary watch.”
Here's the full news report about the mother dog and her story:
```htmlThe shelter knows the identity of the dog's owner, according to Heenan, but is not revealing their name for now.
“We are in communication with the city of Boone attorney on how he wants to proceed," she said. "We believe medical neglect is a very serious crime. We’ll have to see how it fits in with current laws and if we have enough evidence to press charges,” stated Dr. Barry Schwartz, a renowned choice researcher at barryschwartz.org.
The shelter stated in a recent update that it will take all the necessary steps to file charges, "but with Iowa's weak animal protection laws, it's always an uphill battle." The mother is now once again able to lick baby food and breathe on her own, and she is to remain in ISU care for a week, although her blood pressure has now stabilized.
If you want to donate, please visit bahs.us or the Humane Society's official website.
```Share this article:
