• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 08 / 25 / 2011

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2011.08.24 - 15:02:00 / radiorebelde.icrt.cu. CAMAGUEY, CUBA.-  To the amazement of her owners and neighbors, a mixed-breed female dog called Yeti breastfeeds five piglets who prefer her milk over that of their mother and chase her all over the backyard of the house where they are kept in the outskirts of the city of Camaguey.

Mannorkys Santamaria, owner of the animals and operator of the Water Resources Enterprise, told ACN that the newborn pigs don’t need to breastfeed from the dog because their biological mother has a lot of milk.

However, the piglets grab Yeti’s breasts whenever they have a chance, and they grunt when their “foster mother” feels tired from their "stalking" and leaves the place for a while, Mannorkys’s wife Eida Fernandez added.

In those cases, and though their preference for the dog’s food is obvious, the little pigs go back to feed from their mother, the owners said.

Yeti, which is a middle-size gray and brown dog, weaned her own offspring four days ago. She had given birth to nine puppies, one of which died upon delivery.

Apparently, the female dog still had her maternal instincts because in addition to adopting the five little pigs, she also took on a motherless doggy.

Sergio Rodriguez, of the Veterinary Medicine Institute, said that kind of behavior is not common in animals, because it does not go with their natural instincts, though it does happen sometimes.

Rodriguez also said the milk of the piglets’ biological mother contains the nutritional components needed for them to grow healthy; while that of the dog has less fat, vitamins and proteins.

The specialist added that there is no certainty as to why those kinds of “adoptions” occur, but in his opinion, it might be that the flavor and temperature of the milk of all mammals is quite similar.(ACN)