Man's best friend??

Paul · 09-05-2005, 16:37

Quote:

An abandoned baby girl found among a dog's litter of puppies is now doing well in hospital in Kenya's capital.
Two boys heard the two-week old baby girl, named Angel by nurses, crying near their house in a Nairobi suburb.
The dog's owner then found the baby covered by an old cloth in a plastic bag. She gave her some milk and cleaned her before she was taken to hospital.
Doctors think the baby had been left in the plastic bag for two days before she was discovered.
The case has attracted considerable media attention in Kenya.
The dog's owner told The Daily Nation newspaper that two of her children came to her saying they could hear a baby crying but couldn't find it.
"I followed them outside and looked around our compound and a nearby plot.
"I saw my dog, which I have had for five years, lying protectively with her puppy besides the soiled baby lying in a torn black cloth. I held the baby in my arms and carried it into the house."

Halcyon · 09-05-2005, 16:52

Crikey !!!
Thankgoodness they found it in time.
I cant begin to think what goes through those peoples heads who can just leave a baby like that.

Nidge · 10-05-2005, 04:49

Made me think that did, how can a dog pick up maternal instincts??

altis · 10-05-2005, 08:59

It works the other way too:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/...thwolves.shtml

**Stuart C** · 10-05-2005, 09:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nidge

Made me think that did, how can a dog pick up maternal instincts??

They do it because if they decide they like a human, that human becomes a member of their "pack". They will then see that human as a fellow dog, and care for that human as if he or she were a dog.

Cats do a similar thing, but not to the same extent

Chimaera · 10-05-2005, 09:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nidge

Made me think that did, how can a dog pick up maternal instincts??

I think dogs look after their puppies quite well - certainly better cared for than the babies of the Chav mums round here!