Marty Sharpe
Hastings woman Kura 'Kat' Tumanako says she is breastfeeding her staffordshire bull terrier pup because she wants the dog to protect her baby girl as the pair grow up.
When Kura called us to witness her unusual relationship, we visited her Hastings house.
Within minutes of our arrival Kura, 31, and
her puppy, Honey Boy, were sitting on her couch with the puppy eagerly feeding at her breast.
Kura said she started breastfeeding the puppy after her own baby stopped taking her milk.
She said her nipples were too big for the baby and she had to pour her milk away.
"I didn't want to waste it so I gave it to Honey Boy," Kura said.
The puppy was instantly hooked on the unexpected food supply and has been having two feeds a day for the past week.
Kura said she would probably wean the puppy off in six weeks time. Her baby, Honey Pauline Philomina Flo, was born on August 29 and is now on bottled milk.
"I wanted to raise it (the puppy) with my baby.
"I wanted to bring it up with a baby. It will protect her as they grow up," she said.
Kura said the puppy came from a litter of 10.
"He drinks more than the baby. It doesn't hurt, but it's a little bit ticklish," she said.
Kura, who is two months' pregnant, said she did not care what people thought about her breastfeeding the puppy.
"It's my life, my responsibility. I make my own choices.
"I'm going to look after me, my baby and my puppy," Kura said.
Hawke's Bay Today declined her request that we publish a photograph of her breastfeeding the puppy.
