Terrier produces litter of 14

SOUTH WIGTON, England, July 27 (UPI) -- An English couple say when their Staffordshire bull terrier started giving birth the puppies just kept coming.

Patch delivered the first one at about 5:40 p.m. last Sunday, her owners told Sky News. Almost eight hours later, she was a mother of 14 -- seven males and seven females.

"We knew she was having babies but we had no idea how many," said Chris Rogers of South Wigton in Leicestershire. "She got really big but I just thought it would be about eight puppies."

Rogers and his partner, Lisa George, are helping Patch feed her litter.

"They're all beautiful and healthy, but Patch only has nine nipples and there's 14 of them so she needs a bit of help." Rogers said. "We've been rotating the puppies to make sure they can all feed and I've got some formula to help Patch out because it's pretty tiring for her."

Experts say litters this size are unusual but not unknown. Five or six is a more usual number.

Rogers and George have already found willing takers for most of the pups.

Submit to