Tragedy hit a bunch of vulnerable newborn opossums one day. Unfortunately, their mother was attacked and killed on a Brazilian farm.Fortunately, the orphaned babies were located, their eyes still closed, and given to pet behaviorist Stephanie Maldonado for safekeeping.
Initially, Maldonado had hoped to take the baby opossums to a nearby wildlife rescue group, but was told that they were too full to accept any newcomers. So, she took it upon herself to keep them cozy and fed.
The animals needed to be fed every two hours, but it was still unclear if the opossums would survive without more maternal care than Maldonado could provide.
Pretinha, her dog, stepped in to help.
The sweet-natured pup apparently sensed the little opossums were in need, and began doting upon them as if they were her own.
“It’s very nice to see all the care that she has with them, licking them all the time and nestling them,” Maldonado wrote on Facebook.
Pretinha had found her calling.
Perhaps most incredibly though, the dog was more than happy to embrace her adopted litter’s un-puppylike instinct to climb atop their mom.
In fact, Pretinha seems to enjoy that part too.
The dog is so accepting of letting the opossum orphans climb on her that she even takes them on rides during her walks, just like a real opossum mother.