It was a tortoise who decided to take over as surrogate mom when four tiny pups were taken from a yard before their mom was located.
The man who found the puppies said he found them on his property but wasn’t able to catch the mom. He brought them to a local PetSmart near Corona, California inside a small cardboard box.
“They were scared and they were little when I brought them home,” foster mom Andrea from 2nd Chances Rescue said.
These poor sweeties were shaking, but eventually, they warmed up after being fed.
It wasn’t long before they were snoozing in a new warm bed. Andrea had several doggos running around her house, but none of them had as close of a relationship with her rescued Sulcata Tortoise as the puppies did.
According to the San Diego Zoo, the Geochelone sulcata is also known as an African Spurred Tortoise.
They are the largest mainland tortoise and typically reach about 30 inches and over 100 pounds.
Some males can grow to be 200 pounds. They are a popular house pet and are known for their lively personalities.
“When I’m in the backyard. Goliath does follow me around and he plops down where I am and wants to be touched,” Andrea said of the tortoise.
One day, Andrea realized that one of the puppies was missing and started to panic.
Thankfully, the pup was safe snuggled up with the 80-pound Goliah inside his hutch.
“That’s when I realized they were all going in there. I snapped a photo just trying to capture that bond they had,” Andrea said. “This back of puppies were really small. I would put them outside and for some reason, they just instantly took to Goliath. They seemed to find a sense of security being with Goliath.”
She’s had puppies on her property before but they had always been scared of Goliath and would ignore him.
These puppies love to give Goliah kisses and try to curl up under his shell.
They also share snacks together. The puppies and Goliath couldn’t have been happier about this relationship.
They had become inseparable.
“I would find them snuffed around Goliath in the day,” Andrea said.
But Goliath didn’t mind one bit.
“I think he was thrilled,” Andrea said. “I think he loved it.”
A video about Goliath and the puppies was featured on PAWsitive’s YouTube page.
More than 442,000 people have seen it who were touched by this sweet interspecies relationship.
“I have never seen a video where puppies loved a turtle and maybe thought of him as their parent – had to share it and watch it twice. Great video!” wrote a YouTuber.
“We as humans need to learn from animals. We can conquer anything. What a beautiful friendship and what a beautiful tortoise. This lady needs to keep up the good work! Thank you for all you do for the animals. God loves you, and so do I,” said another.
Check out Goliath and his puppies in the videos below.
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