THE world reacted with mixed emotions when a picture of a woman breastfeeding her puppy was made public. We dug a little deeper, and found out that the puppy was only the tip of the iceberg.
Every so often, you experience a moment that makes you stop for a second and really take a moment to cherish your job.
It might be seeing someone with a worse job than you. It might be getting a promotion, or having your workmates gather around, present you with a cake and sing you Happy Birthday.
Or, if you’re me, it might be when your editor says, “Please write a story on this lady who breastfed her puppy.”
For a lover of all things weird such as myself, this is to me what Watergate was to Woodward and Bernstein.
She did what?
According to KDRO News, the woman (who has asked to remain anonymous due to fear of an online backlash) breastfed the puppy as a last resort, as he was the runt of the litter and was unable to feed from his mother or accept K-9 formula.
“I just felt like he just had an hour left. That’s how weak he was, he wasn’t moving and I just did it,” the woman told KDRO.
“He just wasn’t taking it. I didn’t know what else to do, I was desperate and I just couldn’t bear sitting there watching it die,” the woman said.
“Literally what clicked in my head was like, put him on you, just pray to God he will take something and not die.”
After posting a picture to her Facebook page with an explanation of why she fed the puppy (who she has named Tubbs), the woman explained that people (predictably) responded with mixed emotions, and the image was quickly passed around online.
“I did the right thing. I can’t let their criticism bring me down when I did something right and I’ve seen the results. That dog is alive because I took that initiative,” she said.
Is it safe?
KDRO sought the opinion of Veterinarian Dr Amber Williams, who said she was less concerned with the ick factor and more concerned about hygiene.
“I’m more concerned about zoonotic diseases because there are things that can be passed from puppies to babies,” Dr Williams said.
The woman was quick to note that her 15-month-old has recently been weaned, so chances of infecting her bub were non-existent. Dr Williams also warned that human milk was not ideal for other animals to drink.
“In an emergency situation, I don’t think it’s a big deal, but for them to grow appropriately I think it would be important for them to get on a K-9 formula,” Dr Williams said.
In any case, Tubbs has now graduated from breast milk onto the more appropriate K-9 formula, and according to his owner (and one-time wet nurse) he is thriving.
Weird as it may seem, this is not the only instance in which a human has breastfed an animal.
In fact, humans and animals have a long history of breastfeeding one another.
In 18th and 19th century Europe, goats were commonly used as wet nurses for abandoned babies, and when the epidemic of syphilis made traditional wet-nursing too risky, animals were again used.
In addition to this, there is a long history of humans breastfeeding animals, be it for religious reasons or to help toughen nipples and stimulate milk flow. Traditionally piglets, monkeys, puppies and kittens have been used.
More recently, there have been documented cases of animal-human breastfeeding that include a human feeding a dingo, a piglet and a goat.
I used to feel pretty smug about the $40 bags of allergen-free food I buy for my dogs, but it seems I haven’t been quite as doting a pet owner as some of these ladies.
