A domesticated mutt is acting as the surrogate mom for nine newborn African painted dog pups at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, a ground-breaking arrangement for the rearing of the wild dogs, whose mother died shortly after they were born.

Honey, a mixed-breed dog from the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society’s North Side shelter, is nursing the black and white puppies that were born at the zoo Oct. 25, and zoo officials say all are gaining weight and doing well.

It’s the first time such a domestic surrogate has been used to mother and feed new-born painted dogs. The pups’ natural mother, 10-year-old Vega, died of a ruptured uterus.

The mortality rate for African painted dog pups, even with a healthy mother, is 50 percent in the first 30 days, in the wild or in captivity.

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The cage opens and six newborn pigs file out and sprint to their mother.

Without a bark or a grunt, a black Rottweiler/pit bull named Tequila lies on her side. The piglets then suckle the dog’s milk for 20 minutes.
The pigs are so eager for Tequila’s milk that they push, bump and jump over each other to get it.
“I’ve been farming for a while and I’ve never ever ever seen anything like this,” said James Favreau, who owns the pigs and dog on his Buckingham farm. “It’s amazing. Two weeks ago, this dog was hunting wild pigs with me.”
Now, Tequila is busy nursing six piglets and eight puppies. The 2-year-old Tequila gave birth to the puppies Monday, the same day Favreau’s 3-year-old Yorkshire produced the piglets.
Favreau, 45, said Tequila started nursing the pigs Monday morning shortly after the pigs were born during a rainstorm. Favreau said he rescued one of the pigs from drowning and brought all of them into his home.

“I was going to put them back in the yard but then I turned around and Tequila was feeding them,” Favreau said.
Dogs nursing pigs are relatively rare, according to an Internet search Wednesday.
Only one previous example was found and it occurred in June in southern Thailand.
One of Favreau’s friends was so stunned by the development that he forwarded the nursing pictures to NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.’’
Even if she doesn’t make the late-night television show, Tequila is still a hit locally. Favreau’s nephew, Ryan Rivera, and friend, Angel Roman, came over to view the nursing Wednesday.
“This is one of a kind,” Roman said. “It’s a good example that animals can get along.”
Favreau said Tequila has grown so close to the piglets she even cleans them when they get dirty. The piglets — who are named Junior, Snowball, Mud, Freckles, Wilbur and Spot — follow Tequila around Favreau’s home.
“They’re like one big happy family,” he said.
Favreau said he tried putting the pigs back with their natural parents — 500-pound Yorkshires named Funny Face and Alexander the Great — but the piglets grunted and acted strange.
That doesn’t happen when the pigs are around Tequila. Nevertheless, Favreau plans to wean the pigs away from Tequila.
He started giving the pigs milk in a bowl Wednesday. Favreau hopes Tequila will stop nursing the pigs in a week.
“I’m slowly weaning them off but they need (natural) milk so that when they get older they can have a strong immune system,” Favreau said.
“If any of the pigs were going to die from (the dog milk) they would be already dead. This is day three and look, they’re as spunky as they can be.”

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