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SANTA Paws must have been looking out for one canine mum who gave birth to five puppies on Christmas day... but then spent 24 hours desperately trying to deliver the last of the litter.
The young female stray was being fed by workers at an apartment block near Dana Mall, in Sanabis, and it was only by chance that new resident Vernanne Crisp became aware of what could have been a tragic situation.
Vernanne only arrived on the island two weeks ago to take up a job at the Crowne Plaza Bahrain Hotel and, seeing there was a stray living close to her building, she decided to buy some food for it.
But when she arrived home from work on Sunday, she immediately realised something was very wrong as the puppies squealed with hunger and the female dog circled in clear distress and pain, and the watchman told her the poor animal had been desperately trying to deliver the last puppy for almost 24 hours.
After trying to contact the Bahrain Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals without success, she called a friend who was able to put her in touch with one of Tony 'Dogfather' Water's regular volunteers, Liz O'Reilly.
Vernanne said: "I really didn't know what to do at that point but I just knew I couldn't sleep knowing that the poor animal was obviously in trouble so I had to try and help.
"The watchman had made a little shelter for the puppies and done his best but their mum couldn't feed them because she was in so much distress."
Liz met up with Vernanne and between them the two women managed to round up the mum and the three puppies they were able to find and rush them to vet Nonnie Coutts' Manama Clinic, with the puppies snuggled inside a jumper for warmth.
Liz said: "The mama dog must have been in a lot of pain and so frightened, her cries when I picked her up were heart-wrenching, but even so she didn't try to nip or bite me. She wasn't happy at being in the back of the car but, once she realised we'd got her babies, she soon calmed down and only whimpered a little bit."
It was evening time and they were met at the clinic by vet Anna who had come in answer to the emergency call and set about trying to deliver the remaining puppy.
While Liz held onto the animal, Vernanne fed the puppies milk and tried to get the shivering bundles warmed up.
It seemed for a while that an emergency Caesarian might be the only option but, after about an hour of dexterous manipulation by the vet and with one last brave push, the last puppy finally arrived. He was stillborn and had been lying crooked so could not have been born without help, meaning the mum would have died in agony and her remaining babies starved to death.
With their mum absolutely exhausted, putting the little family back out on the streets would have been unthinkable, so Liz called the Dogfather who, despite being already full to capacity, agreed, yet again to take them in.
He said: "This poor dog had been through so much already, I couldn't turn her away and it was a cold night, without their mum in good shape to keep them warm and feed them, the babies would have died.
"But she's a lovely girl, very pretty and with such a kind nature, you could see that immediately.
"Even though she had had a horrible time and must have been so, so tired, as soon as we put the puppies in with her, she immediately started to feed and lick them and hopefully now they will all be fine and, once the babies are big enough, we can find loving homes for these very lucky Christmas presents!"
