From the archives: This story was last updated in February 2019.
With gargantuan effort (and a little help from a crack team of Arizona veterinarians), a Great Dane gave birth to an unbelievable 19 healthy puppies on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019.The Kingman Animal Hospital in Arizona successfully delivered the litter by cesarean section.
“It was a shocking number,” said the Fox 10 news report. “You should hear what they all sound like together!” And, most importantly, they added: “every single one is looking to be in good health so far.” The surgical procedure to birth the puppies necessitated seven vet technicians, including the dog’s owner, led by Dr. Erika Angone. “Think 101 Dalmations? Try 19 Great Danes!” the news report concluded.
Evidently, the weather in Kingman was not so good the week before the puppies’ delivery, so kudos to the vet team, who rallied around in inclement weather to bring 19 tiny lives into the world.
Amazingly, it’s not the first time a litter of 19 Great Dane puppies has graced the operating table of a veterinarian’s office. In 2014, Today covered the story of Brandon Terry, of York Haven, Pennsylvania, whose own Great Dane produced the sizeable litter of ankle biters. Terry described the experience as “awesome,” but the sheer number of puppies caused havoc in the house he shared with his wife, Aimie. Brandon even quit his job in pursuit of part-time odd jobs so that he could supervise his 19 little charges.
“It’s starting to get crazy,” Terry reported. “You’ve got to watch where you step. You’ve got to watch behind your feet!”
Five years later and the proud Kingman Animal Hospital posted on their Facebook page about the same extraordinary phenomenon: “All live and healthy! Mom doing great!” They added a series of adorable photos of a wriggling mass of newborn puppies. For the squeamish amongst their audience, they were quick to clarify: “None of these photos were taken in the surgical room. These are not photos of the procedure but before and after pics. This is in our treatment area where we were checking puppies afterwards for any issues.”
After such a successful operation, 19 new puppies, and the Great Dane mom in good health, staff were elated: “Thank you all for the kind words and congrats to the momma dog and our hard working staff that came in for this emergency,” they posted.
Support from animal lovers on social media flooded in. “KUDOS to everyone involved at KAH!” said one. “Great ending, glad all are in good health.”
“Wow congratulations mom, get as much rest as you can you got your hands full,” read another.
Nineteen Great Danes? We can barely comprehend. It’s a Disney movie in the making!
