News you can lose: Woman breastfeeds pug
Closer, the trashy magazine that brought you Kate Middleton’s breasts, is making news again — this time with a story about a 44-year-old California woman who breastfeeds her pug.
The Oct. 20th U.K. edition of Closer features an interview with Terri Graham, a mother of two human children.
Breastfeeding her pug Spider, she says, makes her feel like a better mom.
“Having Spider suckle on my boob means I finally feel complete and a better mother,” said Graham, who was unable to breastfeed her children for reasons unexplained.
Graham said she has been breastfeeding Spider for two years — ever since the dog licked a bottle of breast milk she had pumped for her newborn son. Apparently, Spider liked it so much, she decided to let him start drinking directly from the source.
There’s definitely a boundary line between what’s acceptable and what’s not when it comes to how close we get to our dogs, and how humanly we treate them — and we meant humanly there, not humanely. I don’t assume to be the one who defines that line, but, in my humble view, this crosses it.
Even though we “ooh” and “aww” when we see a female dog take on the feeding responsibilities to newborn animals of other species, most of us will probably “euuwwww” at this example.
The significant difference between those cases and this, of course, is that a nine-year-old pug doesn’t require breast milk to grow, and the surrogate mama dogs in those cases don’t generally seek headlines.
This, in my view, is fairly outrageous, which accounts for the story’s popularity. We seem to have an appetite for the outrageous, and no shortage of media happy to serve it up and let us suckle. A photo of the article about Graham was posted to a Reddit forum devoted to strange news, and it quickly rose to the site’s front page. It was subsequently regurgitated by The Huffington Post, and given good play by Doghatersunite.com, a website that says it serves “people who hate dog-loving idiots and their Darwin-defying fleabags.”
One has to wonder how the original publication got onto this story: A phoned-in tip? Peering through a window? Logging into breastfeedingyourdog.com? (Just kidding, there’s no such website.) Or did the subject of the story, sensing the magazine’s zeal for boob coverage, volunteer the information?
All said, while the case of the breastfeeding pug raises some interesting questions, one should probably consider the source — not just tabloid readers, but especially Spider — and perhaps seek their nourishment elsewhere.
Posted by jwoestendiek October 19th, 2012 under Muttsblog.
Tags: animals, behavior, bond, breastfeed, breastfeeding, breasts, california, closer, dog, dogs, human, humans, interspecies, magazine, milk, nourishment, pets, photo, pug, spider, tabloids, woman
Comments
Comment from sofia mogliazzi
Time October 19, 2012 at 12:58 pm
At 2 years old the pug hardly registers as a pup anymore and, in dog years, is just shy of its 24th adult human birthday equivalent, but why deprive Spider of all that good kinky stuff? Then again who are we to judge what gets ‘mommy’ off…?
Comment from Kim
Time October 19, 2012 at 1:44 pm
Sick. Hope DSS will step in and take her human kids.
Comment from Anne’n'Spencer
Time October 19, 2012 at 7:49 pm
Count me among the disgusted–and I had no problems breast-feeding my own human children back in the day. As a dog lover, there are a few things I’d like to point out.
First of all, each species, humans included, produces milk that is tailored to her own young. This is why there are often problems with bottle-feeding human babies with formula made from cow’s milk, which is ideally tailored to baby cows. The proteins are different, the nutritional requirements are completely different, and science has never been able to completely mimic nature. It’s why doctors want more human mothers to breast-feed.
Second, mother dogs feed their puppies for six or eight weeks. The pups are then gradually introduced by Mom to their adult food, which is basically meat-based. Their requirement for milk is at an end. And, in fact, feeding an adult dog cow milk, cheese, or any dairy product can often lead to gas, loose stools or diarrhea, throwing up, and other unpleasant side effects. Adult dogs don’t need milk, don’t digest it well, and generally shouldn’t have it. So this woman isn’t doing her nine-year-old pug any favors and may be causing him digestive distress.
We can certainly applaud animal moms who heroically feed and care for young of other species, but the babies may not be getting the nutrition they require over the long run. Still, if the alternative involves starving, it’s a good thing. At least we know that the animal mothers aren’t getting some sort of strange gratification, nor are they exposing their own children to unseemly behavior. I think this woman is nuts, and I think she’s harming her own two children and isn’t doing too much for the poor dog, either.
Comment from robert schlosser
Time October 20, 2012 at 9:29 am
double ewwwwwww!!
Comment from Winners
Time October 22, 2012 at 5:51 am
The respective MUM is seemed to be feeding an adult human, imaging herself that her husband is sucking and then feeling an inner interests for enjoyment. As the dog is nine year old, means like an adult human being, it never needs milk for its meal, but meats and bones.
The mother seemed to be hiding the truth and misleading the entire world by exposing her breasts??????????
Comment from smoketoomuch
Time October 22, 2012 at 7:26 am
Looks to me like a quest for her “15 minutes of fame”. The British Tabloid ‘press’ (and I use that term very loosely) are not above fabricating this kind of story simply to boost circulation. That an American woman is involved only reinforces my belief in the sad decline of American Culture in the last few decades. We’re well on our way to the “lowest common denominator” society – just turn on the TV, and take a gander at the vast majority of what’s available if you doubt it (Jerry Springer, Survivor, etc.).
Comment from LOLpervs
Time October 22, 2012 at 5:25 pm
Spider the pug has issued a statement! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz_9fnhIKJk
Comment from Fran
Time October 19, 2012 at 10:19 am
One word: Ewwww…