I am sorry you are facing this situation. Seems "no win" either way. My mom had a similar situation. She bought a 9 month old dauchshound that wound up being pregnant (by her father it turned out). By the time they figured what was wrong with the poor little girl she was fairly far along. They could not imagine someone letting a dog that young getting bred! After discussing with the vet, they decided to let her continue and she had the pups. Thankfully they were all fine and she even wound up keeping 2 and finding another home for 2 together. Then she had everyone spayed/neutered. But I think this is a very case-by-case situation where you need to get some good imput from the vet and see if you trust the lady is telling the truth that the brother is the only possible sire. Regardless, I would follow the pregnancy closely getting xrays and maybe a ultrasound. You don't want any more surprises.
I see both sides of this stuation. I know logically that one should not bring more pups into the world that are potential birth defect/congenital disease/hereditary health problem carriers. Not only do you not want the puppies born with these things, but you then have a responsibility to make sure they are all spayed and neutered before going off to new homes so conditions that are more prone to show in every other generation are also nipped in the bud. So, logically emergency spay is the answer.
But....I have my heart speaking to me on the other side as well. I am against abortion unless mother's life is endangered. In this case, that may well be the case. Someone who let a pup be bred at less than a year by a litter brother may have also let her be tied with a neighborhood dog of uncertain lineage. Oh....this is making me sad just talking about it. Glad I am not in your shoes! Pray on this a bit after getting some vet input along with the pros that have answered you here. Then go with your decision knowing there really was no "right" answer. |