Lacey, a pit bull mix was rescued by The Lake City Humane Society in Florida along with her only living puppy. With regular feeding and a foster family to care for her, she and her one puppy were slowly nursed back to health.

After being saved, Lacey became a savior, taking on two litters of puppies that had been abandoned and nursing them as her own – a total of 17 puppies, including her pup.

Lacey took the first ten puppies in and nursed them for eight weeks until they could be weaned and moved into their foster homes. Lacey’s mothering instinct kicked in again when she took on another six abandoned one-day-old puppies.

“We have fantastic volunteer foster families who help with our homeless pets, but we could always use more,” said Laura Page, director of the Lake City Humane Society. “With Lacey, we have seen a great example of a dog who is willing to be a mother to so many puppies. She is so loving and gentle with them – but now she needs a break from motherhood.”

Lacey will be spayed with funds received from a grant from Florida Animal Friend and placed up for adoption when she is finished nursing them. Florida Animal Friend’s mission is to help save the lives of countless unwanted cats and dogs by supporting organizations that offer free or low-cost spay and neuter services across the state of Florida. The $25,000 grant money awarded to the Lake City Humane Society was part of a$600,000 total distributed to various grant winners by Florida Animal Friend throughout the state of Florida in 2014.

“This is a great example of what the funds from the sale of Florida Animal Friend license plates can do,” said Lois Kostroski, executive director of Florida Animal Friend. “The Lake City Humane Society will be able to spay Lacey once she is finished nursing this brood. And, each one of the 17 puppies that she nursed will also be spayed and neutered before being adopted.”