An Irish setter gave birth to 16 puppies by caesarean.Getty Images/Wavetop
An Irish setter has given birth to 16 puppies, the same number of pups as the record Irish setter litter registered with the Kennel Club.
Four-year-old Amelia, gave birth by cesarean at Seadown Veterinary Group’s hospital in Hythe, Southampton in April, the Daily Mail reports. Sadly, one of the puppies was so small it did not survive.
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The typical size of a litter for an Irish setter is eight or nine pups, so Amelia’s enormous brood surprised even vet Louisa Weinfield, who performed the operation.
Gigantic litter of Irish setter pups equals a record after four-year-old dog gives birth by C-section https://t.co/fBpEXSEZYw
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) July 27, 2019
Amelia’s owner, Judi Frampton, said: “Louisa and all the nurses at Seadown were amazing. They all mucked in and went the extra mile.”
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While Amelia’s large litter, which is worth around $1,200 (£1,000) a pup, is impressive, it still falls short of the world-record litter for a dog.
That record was set in 2004 by Tia, a Neopolitan mastiff from Cambridgeshire, who gave birth to a whopping 24 puppies.