Posts tagged "poland"

Whoa, mama! Hania, a 4-year-old Great Dane in Poland gave birth to 17 perfect puppies last week, reports The Associated Press.

The pups -- eight male, nine female -- were delivered by Cesarean section in a nearby veterinary clinic at breeder Gabriela Kubalska's request. It was Hania's first litter, and Kubalska wanted to spare her the long labor that delivering such a big brood would entail.

It is truly taking a village to care for all these purebred pups. While Hania is constantly nursing them, another female Great Dane has joined in to help with the feedings, so the puppies stay fat and happy.

Does this story sound familiar? It should -- just a few months ago a Rhodesian ridgeback gave birth to 17 puppies in Germany.

Talk about a cool story. Actually, make that "frigid." A dog in Poland was rescued after apparently floating down the Vistula River and into the Baltic Sea, traveling 75 miles atop an ice floe, according to the Associated Press.

The male dog, now nicknamed "Baltic" (naturally), was adrift on the ice floe when he was spotted by a crew of ocean scientists on the ship Baltica. Researcher Natalia Drgas told the AP that rescuing the dog proved difficult. "It kept slipping into the water and crawling back on top of the ice. At one point it vanished underwater, under the ship and we thought it was the end, but it emerged again and crawled on an ice sheet," Drgas said.

Finally, the crew lowered a pontoon boat down to the icy water and pulled the shivering dog to safety.

Three days earlier, Baltic had been spotted 60 miles inland, drifting on his ice floe down the Vistula River. Firefighters in the town of Grudziadz reportedly tried to save the dog, but were unable to reach him when the river's ice sheets shifted, the AP reported.

Baltic's thick fur kept him from suffering any frostbite, and a veterinarian declared him in surprisingly good shape. He's now warm and happy in the port city of Gdynia. A number of people have come forward to claim the dog, but the Baltica crew were skeptical when the friendly pup didn't show any signs of recognizing his supposed owners. For now, the crew are hanging onto Baltic in hopes that his real owners will turn up soon.

If not, the research team is prepared to adopt the adventurous seafaring dog for good.