A litter of hand-rear puppies have been putting a smile on the face of Battersea’s staff during the current coronavirus crisis.
Dinky, Bumble, Dude, Lola and Hetty were all born on site at Battersea after their mum came in already heavily pregnant.
Sadly, their mother rejected the pups so staff decided it was safest to separate them. Their mum has since been rehomed.
Without their mother to care for them, it was up to Battersea’s dedicated staff to ensure that the puppies grew into big, strong dogs. Staff at the charity have been hand-rearing puppies, which means that they had to be bottle fed every two hours for the first few weeks of their life until they could be weaned when they became four-weeks old.
Natalie Ingham, who has been hand-rearing three of the puppies and is a Canine Behaviour and Training Manager at Battersea said: “With all of the bad news in the world at the moment, this gorgeous litter have definitely managed to make everyone’s day more cheerful.
“Hand-rearing puppies is hard work and I’ve certainly had a lot of sleepless nights, but everyone here at Battersea is dedicated to caring for each and every animal that comes through our gates. Even in these uncertain times, we are doing are very best for all the animals in our care and we’ll continue to do so.”
All the puppies have now found owners, but if you’d like to help Battersea to continue to be here for more animals, you can visit www.battersea.org.uk.
