In Suzhou, in China’s Anhui Province, a mother dog did something that left everyone who witnessed it quietly heartbroken.
She simply couldn’t accept that her puppies were gone.
According to her owner, Mr. Qin, the dog had suffered complications during labor, and two of her puppies didn’t survive.
After they were buried, most animals might eventually move on. This mother didn’t.
She returned to the small burial site again and again, reportedly digging through the soil as many as five or six times to reach her puppies once more.
In one video, she’s seen gently carrying one of her puppies in her mouth, not the way an animal carries an object, but the same careful way a mother dog carries a living newborn to safety.
When Mr. Qin approached to comfort her, she stayed close, reluctant to let go, her instincts apparently unable to accept what her owner already understood.
In another moment, she’s seen beside the shallow grave, having disturbed the earth to reach her puppies again, gently licking them and staying near, as though keeping watch.
Throughout it all, Mr. Qin stayed by her side, stroking her gently, offering what comfort he could.
At one point, he carefully lifted the small, still puppy from her mouth and held it himself, while she remained close, watching.
No one can say exactly what this mother dog understood about what had happened.
But her behavior, returning again and again to the place where she’d lost her babies, spoke to something instinctive and deeply felt.
Animal behaviorists have long noted that mother animals, dogs included, can show real grief responses after losing offspring, staying close to their young even after death, reluctant to leave them behind.
It’s a difficult scene to watch, but also a reminder of just how deep the bond between a mother and her young can run, in any species.
This mother dog couldn’t save her puppies.
But her instinct to stay close to them, to protect them even in loss, is something many people who’ve loved an animal understand all too well.
Our hearts go out to her, and to anyone who has ever watched a mother grieve.
Source:
dailymail – “Heartbroken mother dog digs up her dead puppies and refuses to let them go after the tiny animals died during labour”