She called it maternal instinct as she posted a photograph of herself breastfeeding a newborn Labrador-mixed puppy. A Colorado woman, who chose to remain anonymous, said she never expected to ever do something like that. "I just did it. I never thought I would ever do that. That's just something... It was taboo to me as well," she said in a video reported by KRDO. "I guess you could call it a maternal instinct."

Afraid of the backlash, but still wanting to help, the unnamed woman said she had exhausted all of her options after the puppy's mother was killed and the youngster then wouldn’t eat or drink from the bottle.

"He just wasn't taking it. I didn't know what else to do. I was desperate, and I just couldn't bear sitting there, watching him die," she said. "Literally, what clicked in my head was like put him on you, just pray to God he will take something and not die."

This is not the first case of women breastfeeding animals. In 2011, BuzzFeed posted a series of women breastfeeding cats, dogs, a tiger, and a number of other species. Surprisingly, many of the reactions were not against the women doing this.

Despite the taboo, this might not be the healthiest for the newborn puppy or any animal for that matter. Veterinarian Dr. Amber Williams says she wouldn’t recommend breastfeeding a puppy. Less concerned about the taboo, Williams says, “I’m more concerned about zoonotic diseases because there are things that can be passed from puppies to babies,” she said to KRDO News. “Nutritionally, human milk isn’t the best for other animals.”

All in all, the unnamed woman was happy that she could do something to help the puppy. “I did the right thing," she said. "I can’t let their criticism bring me down when I did something right, and I’ve seen the results. That dog is alive because I took that initiative.”

Click here for full video: KRDO