Humans and dogs alike have been known to give birth in weird places. But this service animal’s very public labor shocked and delighted everyone around.

When Diane Van Atter went into Tampa International Airport with her two dogs, service animal Eleanor Rigby and her boyfriend Golden Nugget, she got the shock of her life.

At first, it seemed like it would be a dull flight. Diane and her dogs waited to board their flight to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania just like everyone else.

But then Eleanor, or Ellie as she’s otherwise known, started whining desperately.

Diane was confused at this, because Ellie had been on a number of flights in the past without causing a fuss. Why was she acting up now?

Ellie began panting. Shortly after, she seemed to collapse. Diane became desperately worried.

Golden Nugget also started acting strangely. Instead of panicking at his girlfriend’s sudden illness, he seemed calm. He was gently kissing her head and protecting her. But he wasn’t as distressed as Diane.

Pretty soon, the paramedics arrived on the scene to help the dog. But then, Ellie’s mystery “illness” became obvious to all. The dog was not suffering from a disease at all. A puppy’s head emerged from Ellie. The dog had been pregnant!

Diane was relieved but still shocked. She had had no idea that her beloved dog was pregnant. But by now, she and everyone else present were delighted at what they were witnessing.

With encouragement from Diane, Golden Nugget and the passengers waiting for their flight, Ellie kept on working through her labor. And pretty soon, the dog had delivered another puppy, and then another, and then another, and then another.

In the end, seven puppies came into the world at that departure gate. There were six boys and one girl. It was by far the cutest thing that anyone present had ever seen in an airport!

Unsurprisingly, Diane, Ellie and Golden Nugget missed their flight. But on the plus side, they now had seven puppies to nurture!

Diane and the dogs had to cancel their vacation at the last minute. So the woman and her now much larger family of dogs got in her car and drove back home.

At home, Diane made sure that all of the puppies were warm and still just as healthy as at the airport.

In the days since the birth, Ellie was soon able to regain her strength, and the puppies have all developed normally. Golden Nugget is also one proud dad!

When the puppies are old enough, they will start training to become service dogs themselves. It could be that the people in the airport that day were in the presence of an entire family of animal lifesavers!

During the labor, the passengers of the flight took to social media to report what was happening. Pretty soon, the incident had become viral thanks to all of the different posts.

The official Tampa International Airport Facebook page even posted a video of the birth.

It soon gained hundreds of thousands of views. The video has also gained hundreds of likes and dozens of comments. People have been saying things like this:

It just goes to show that puppies can make any situation better. You won’t even mind if they make you skip your vacation!

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Source: Tampa International Airport