Says she’s proud of saving the dog’s life and took to Facebook to explain her decision
Over in Colorado Springs, KDRO news reported that a woman, who is remaining anonymous due to online backlash, saved the life of her sick, dying puppy by breastfeeding it back to health.
“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 stated. When the puppy wouldn’t eat either the K-9 formula or from the bottle, she says, “Literally what clicked in my head was like, put him on you, just pray to God he will take something and not die.”
The woman then went on to post a pic on her Facebook page and explained how she overcame her own belief that breastfeeding an animal is taboo, but then someone took the photo and began spreading it around the internet.
She responded, “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.”
Veterinarian Dr. Amber Williams says she wouldn’t recommend breast feeding a puppy, but not for the reasons most of us would think. She says she’s more concerned about zoonotic diseases because there are things that can be passed from puppies to babies. And she notes, human milk isn’t the best for other animals.
The tip of the iceberg?
It is typically taboo in some cultures, but there are many instances where humans have breast fed animals, and vice versa. In 18th and 19th century Europe, goats were used as wet nurses for babies that were abandoned, and when syphilis swept the continent, animals were used again to supply nourishment. In the history of humans, women have breastfed animals for religious reasons or to help toughen nipples and stimulate milk flow.
Author and medical doctor, Dr. Fiona Giles explains it’s more common than we realize. “In history puppies have saved new mothers. Breasts could become too full of milk, become infected and the women die. Puppies were used to relieve this.”
Just when you thought CUFBI was making this stuff up
Janine Hammond is a 25-year-old who lives in Missouri, and feeds her pet cat, Flash, her Guinea pig, her shire horse and tries to feed her son, Kenny, but he doesn’t like breastmilk. That’s right, breastmilk. British tabloid, Closer, ran this bizarre article and noted that she hasn’t told her family about how she feeds her tabby cat, but she did manage to tell a national magazine. The article points out that Janine is a former animal shelter worker too, but didn’t say why she no longer works with animals.
Kate Garraway, an English television and radio presenter, posed for a provocative picture where she appears to be breastfeeding a calf. She posed for the picture to promote a documentary on women who breast-feed other people’s babies.
Tori Amos, singer/songwriter, has appeared breastfeeding a piglet on the album sleeve of her record Boys for Pele. In an interview asking about the image, she said, “When I was suckling the pig, I had feelings of wanting to nurture, wanting to be a mom. I wasn’t pregnant at the time of the shoot but I miscarried soon after that.”
