Dog With Ears Cut Off is "Mother of the Year" to 15 Pups

By Rebecca Larsen of Louisiana

Adelle was nothing but a bag of bones, and belly when she arrived at the animal shelter. She had obviously been mistreated. She had been caught in a dog trap on a man’s land, and he brought her in. Her ears were completely cropped off, very crudely. They had scabs on them where the scar is. She had scars on her body, and a bad limp. Her tail had been docked at home at some point in time as well.

She never showed any signs of aggression when I got her. I gave her a few days to acclimate so I wouldn’t stress her out more, since she was pregnant. She was big enough that she could have gone into labor any day. But she didn’t. She kept growing larger and larger, and eventually I was able to earn her trust. I think Savannah, my 2 year old, had a lot to do with that. Mind you, I was only supposed to have her for two weeks as I was the emergency foster, but as life has it most of the time, no other rescues or fosters stepped up. I had been taking her temperature for about a week, and on the 15th it finally dropped below 98 degrees and stayed there. May 15th, at about 11 pm, she went into active labor.

She didn’t want to be alone. I was sitting on the couch waiting, and she would come out of her whelping area, and stare at me, then walk back to the whelping area until I got up and went over and sat with her. She was extremely restless, but she would lay down with her head in my lap. It was an incredible bonding experience. At 2:51 am, the first puppy was born. It was a miracle. I’d never mid-wifed puppies. Adelle knew exactly what to do. She broke the amniotic sack and chewed off the umbilical cord. She cleaned the puppy and I had to assist it in nursing. About an hour later, the next puppy was born, and she went through the entire routine again.

Adelle is an amazing mother. Twelve hours later, we had 15 puppies. Can you imagine my surprise! All of them were very healthy and nursing. Adelle was completely exhausted. I had to revive a couple of the puppies and clear their lungs from fluid because of Adelle’s sheer exhaustion.

Around 1:30 pm on the 16th, I decided that Adelle was done. I couldn’t feel any more puppies, and it had been 2 hours since the last one was born. I went to the store to get supplies. I wasn’t prepared for 15 little puppies. When I got back home an hour later, Adelle had had a 16th puppy. It was a shock. Who would have EVER thought Adelle would have had 16 puppies. I mean, she was as large as a house before she delivered, but 16 puppies!

Gucci

Lovely Robin. Who could resist this face?

Kiernan.

Pearce

Cherish, the runt of the litter.

Goliath

Update

Adelle’s pups are all up for adoption now through Animal Rescue Front in Massachusetts. They are a beautiful mix of breeds, clearly coming from several different fathers, and each one is healthy and affectionate. Anyone interested in adopting one of the pups or Adele may visit Animal Rescue Front’s website here.

Related Stories:

Pup With Broken Hind Legs Dying in Street: Now She’s Climbing Stairs!

Hungry Dog With Porcupine Quills in Face Gets Rescued in Mountains

“Just Chase Her Into the Basement” — Saving the Neighbor’s Neglected Dog

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Annmari L.

11:12AM PDT on Sep 10, 2012

What a wonderful person you are to take such good care of an abused dog and also take care of her puppies until they will get adopted. If everyone could be as caring as you we wouldn't have any mistreated animals!

September 10
send a green star

maureen j.

11:54PM PDT on Aug 8, 2012

Poor animal.....some stupid jerk cut her ears and tail, when they catch the PR%CK, I have a suggestion of what could be cut off!!!!

Kudos to this girls rescue team :-)

August 8
send a green star

Sheri D.

12:14PM PDT on Jul 24, 2012

Thank you for taking care of this wonderful dog.

July 24
send a green star

Christine S.

10:25PM PDT on Jul 22, 2012

I am glad you fostered that poor mama dog, so she and her babies will be safe from the sadist who cut off her ears to try to make her look mean.

July 22
send a green star

Lynette B.

3:07PM PDT on Jul 22, 2012

Great story!

mari s.

3:17PM PDT on Jul 21, 2012

Rebecca -- thank you deeply for taking care of Adele and being there for this huge event! Wow -- what an experience! Thank you for being there for her and loving her! You do beautiful magnificent work -- may you always be there for animals and may people like you be duplicated throughout the world. If we could only eliminate the mentally unstable whackos who are so unconscionably cruel to animals, we would all be better off! Are any charges being brought against the individual who inflicted such atrocities upon Adele? Making people accountable for committing such savagery will help in NOT having such horrific crimes committed again! We should NOT let these barbarians get away with such cruelty to animals! Who do they think they are? Animals are living beings who deserve respect and caring! Society must teach this!

July 21
send a green star

Maree Ann P.

11:24PM PDT on Jul 20, 2012

For poor adelle to be abused the way she was and to learn to trust humans again beautiful story and then to have sixteen puppies what a wonderful ending to such a cruel start, god bless Adelle and her family and her new owners!