Six orphaned puppies taken from an Oklahoma animal shelter have been adopted by a dog in Indiana that lost her own litter while trying to give birth.
The stray Rottweiler mix named Bertha was paired with the puppies after a rescue group pulled her from a South Bend shelter where she was scheduled to be euthanized.
Bertha was in labor when a volunteer picked her up, but she failed to give birth within 24 hours. An emergency surgery revealed all eight puppies had died.
The rescue group then alerted other groups that it had a lactating dog if anyone had puppies that needed to nurse. The six newborn puppies acquired from an Oklahoma City shelter arrived soon afterward and are now thriving.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
