Australian Dog Has Record-Breaking 21 Puppies
A dog named Shadow has broken the Australian record for litter size, after giving birth to 21 puppies with the help of medical staff from the Animal Rescue Services Underwood hospital in Queensland.
Shadow took the record for the largest litter in Australia from a Dalmatian named Melody, and Minnie the American Bulldog, both of which had 18 puppies each. The international record, however, still belongs to Tia, a Neapolitan Mastiff in the UK who gave birth to 24 puppies in November 2004.
Shadow gave birth to three puppies by herself at home before her owner brought her to the hospital.
"After four hours of no activity and a puppy that didn't make it, [Shadow's] owner brought her into us expecting the worst," said veterinarian Patrycja Zimmermann.
The vets then ran tests to see how many more puppies Shadow was going to have, and found there were at least ten. They decided to do an emergency cesarean section, and a team of ten vets and nurses helped bring 18 more puppies into the world.
After the surgery, nurses spent a day making sure Shadow could feed each of the puppies by bringing them to her in groups at different times. Eighteen puppies from Shadow's litter survived in total, and she is now recovering with her family at home.
