A yellow Labrador Retriever named Lucy, who lives with her owner in Taunton, Somerset, England, gave birth to a total of 13 puppies – all of which were black. A photo of Lucy with her babies was shared on the internet, and she clearly had a look of bewilderment on her face.
In August 2020, Daily Mail reported that Lucy, who was 3 years old at the time, gave birth to a total of 13 babies, missing out on the English record for a labrador litter of 14 puppies. It took Lucy 5 hours to give birth to all the puppies. However, what was even more surprising was all her babies had black fur! The puppies were the same color as their father, Bastion, an 8-year-old black Labrador, who was mated with Lucy by the owner’s friend.
“She had the first four in just 20 minutes, then they just kept appearing,” Lucy’s owner, Catherine Smith, said. “This is the first time we have bred a dog and thought she might have 5 or 6. She started at 11:50 AM, and it was all over by 4:30 PM. I think she wondered where they’d all come from!”
Initially, Catherine assumed Lucy would only give birth to about 5 or 6 babies. However, 13 babies kept coming one after another within 5 hours. Since records were kept in the UK, the latest recorded for the most Labrador puppies to be born at one time is 14. Lucy almost made the record.
Within 3 weeks, all 13 puppies were sold to new owners.
Image credits: © Ἅ𝜾𝜹𝜼𝝇 @aides_hades/Twitter and DailyMail UK
