Hey Hey Hey! Mollie gives birth to 13 pups, 9 by Caesarean

Sheepdog Molly has 13 puppies
The litter is one of the largest ever for the breed and has stunned experts

Daily Mail

Nottinghamshire: Molly the Old English sheepdog has every right to look a bit woolly after having an incredible 13 puppies.

The litter is one of the largest ever for the breed and has stunned experts, who say it is double the average size. But on Friday the pedigree pups were oblivious to the excitement over their birth as they snoozed on the sofa at their home.

As for Molly's owners Deanna and Gary Thrall, meanwhile, they now have their work cut out helping her look after the brood.

Mrs Thrall, who helps feed the cute little black and white scamps with a bottle, said: 'Most people take maternity leave, but I'm taking puppy leave. I haven't even been out of the house for the past fortnight. Gary and I are sleeping in four-hour shifts. In fact, we haven't really slept properly at all, because looking after 13 puppies is a 24-hour job. We've had to bottle-feed them, because they're all really small and poor old Molly simply doesn't have the capacity to feed that many.'

Mrs Thrall, 50, a council environmental health lecturer, was at work when her husband, a 46-year-old barber's shop owner, phoned to announce he was delivering the first pup two weeks ago. Later that night Molly gave birth to four more, but her owners sensed she wasn't finished and asked a vet to examine her.

Mrs Thrall, of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, said: 'We thought there might be one more still to come - but there were a good deal more than that. 'The vet rang an hour later and said Molly had done well, she had come through the Caesarean, and she and the puppies were all fine.

'I asked how many and was absolutely shocked when I found out. We had gone from four to 13.

The vet had never delivered so many at once.' Margaret McWilliam, secretary of the Old English Sheepdog Club, said eight puppies is considered a large litter for an Old English, with many bitches content to give birth to just one or two. 'I have never heard of any litter as big as 13 before,' she said.

Mrs Thrall said: 'We decided to breed Molly because we had another sheepdog who died last year and we wanted her to have some company again. 'We expected three or four, so we were completely stunned. But we love them all dearly already and are getting to know them individually now. We would like to keep one or two, but we're not sure yet. We have advertised the puppies for sale through the Kennel Club and have already had a lot of interest.'

The Thralls will be able to sell each puppy for around 800 pounds once they have seen them through the first weeks of their lives, meaning they could earn more than £10,000 if they sold them all.
Source:http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=5&articleid=714200621640250714200621541406#

I think the last part of the newspaper article is digusting. Even referring to how much money they will make for selling such a big litter makes it look like they are going to make a fortune, not true, wonder if the newspaper takes into account, vet fees, food costs and all that is associated with raising a litter, especially such a huge one.

Its not an Indian newspaper its British...