A dog in Brazil adopted opossums whose mother had been mauled by another dog. The offspring’s mother passed away, but Stephanie Maldonado discovered them in time. They were only a few days old since their eyes had not yet opened.

Stephanie had hoped that a neighboring wildlife rescue agency would take in the opossums, but she was told that they didn’t have any more space. So she looked after them.

The creatures needed to be fed every two hours, but Stephanie was unsure whether the opossums would survive without more mother care than she could offer. That’s when her dog, Pretinha, came to the rescue.

The lovely animal saw the opossums’ need for her and proceeded to care for them as if they were her own children.

Stephanie made the following Facebook post: “It’s really sweet to see how much she loves them, licking them all the time and cuddling up with them.”

Although Pretinha is sterile and does not produce milk, she provides the small animals with the refuge they require at this point. The young climb her as they would their mother and it seems that Pretinha enjoys that too.

The dog has become so accustomed to allowing the opossums to climb on it that she now carries them on her walks, much like a genuine opossum mother. The newborn opossums have grown healthy and robust owing to Pretinha’s care since they arrived.

When the time comes, Sthepanie intends to return the opossums to their natural habitat, taking with them the legacy of love and compassion offered by their adopted mother.