When the Lehnitz Animal Sanctuary in Berlin, Germany took in six three-day-old wild boar piglets, Baby the French bulldog immediately took to them and treated them as her own puppies.

The piglets were shivering and cold, orphaned after their mother was presumably shot by hunters.

In Berlin, the boar population numbers 10,000. The animals tear up turf in backyards and sports fields and are considered nuisances. This leaves them vulnerable targets, so once piglets start to trust humans they can never be released back into the wild. And as cute and cuddly as these two-pound babies looked when they arrived at the sanctuary in 2012, they are now massive adults unfit for home life. Sanctuary worker Norbert Damm hoped to release them in a nature reserve once they could feed themselves.

This wasn’t Baby’s first experience as a surrogate mom. Before caring for the piglets, she had taken other sanctuary rescues under her wing, including cats and a raccoon.

Image source: American Daily News