Quintuplet puppy birth confusion

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/shropshire/8241869.stm

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A dog that gave birth to five puppies became the target of newspaper interest when she was mistaken for a human.

An announcement in the births section of The Times newspaper said Kate Pong had had "beautiful" quintuplets called Beyonce, Tyra, Bobbi, Barrack and Earl.

Kate's owner, Fiona Wallace, from Newport, in Shropshire, said a friend had placed the advert but failed to mention that they were dogs.

She said the "bizarre" incident had not intended to mislead.

Kate Pong is a two-and-a-half-year-old chocolate Labrador.

'Honestly done'

When Kate gave birth to five puppies, a friend decided to spread the word by placing an announcement in the Births, Deaths and Marriages section of The Times on 1 September.

Ms Wallace said they never thought the announcement would cause such a stir

Ms Wallace, 34, said there was no reference to the fact they were dogs: "She didn't say they were human, she just didn't say they were dogs."

When the announcement was published, Ms Wallace said it prompted a newspaper columnist to comment on the infants' strange names.

She said she also had inquiries from a number of newspapers including The Sun and The Daily Mail.

She said: "It's a little bizarre. We think it's great.

"It was honestly done just to let people know and it's just snowballed from there."