Service Dog Gives Birth to Puppies at Tampa Airport

Traveling through an airport can be a frustrating ordeal, but people inside Tampa International Airport got the surprise of a lifetime Friday.

According to WAVY.com, the two-year-old yellow lab named Ellie was preparing to board a flight to Philadelphia with her owner Diane Van Atter when the dog went into labor inside the Tampa airport.

The Aircraft Rescue Firefighters stationed at the Florida airport responded to the call for assistance and a nurse in the terminal joined in to assist in the birth process. The unidentified passenger helped deliver five of the eight puppies before having to leave for her flight.

The whole incident lasted around four hours, but the dog successfully gave birth to a litter of eight puppies, including seven males and one female. Lt. Natalie Brown of Tampa Fire and Rescue arrived on the scene shortly after it began and worked with Ellie throughout the process, according to Today.com.

An air traveler’s service dog is delivering puppies now @FlyTPA We’re a full-service department! pic.twitter.com/4xlPixtcFn

— Tampa Fire Rescue (@TampaFireRescue) May 25, 2018

Not only did some passengers tell airport officials they were voluntarily going to miss their connecting flights in order to witness the “magical” moment, but the father of the puppies, another service dog named Golden Nugget, was also seen jumping for joy over the birth of his new babies.

At the end of the ordeal, Ellie nursed her puppies in the terminal as a crowd of onlookers snapped photos and shared the story on social media.