SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WISH) — A South Bend zoo has given three endangered pups rejected by their mother at birth a second chance through a surrogate mom.

The Indiana Council of Animal Welfare, or I.C.A.W., a dog breeding and animal husbandry organization, joined forces with the Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend to make the arrangement happen.

A release by the I.C.A.W. says that the painted dogs, which have been on the critically endangered species list since 1990, were rejected by their mother shortly after birth.

The three pups, unnamed but currently called Blue, Red, and Orange, were hand-raised by zoo staff. The zoo said in a social media post that hand-raising the pups was a difficult decision to make “because it’s so important for painted dogs to be raised in a canine social structure.”

Facing this difficulty together, the zoo and the I.C.A.W. came up with a solution in the form of a golden retriever named Kassy.

Kassy, who was in the process of nursing her puppies, was an “ideal surrogate” for the painted dogs. The zoo says Kassy immediately accepted Red, Blue, and Orange, and her “nurturing spirit played a crucial role in providing the care and support these endangered puppies needed.”

“She is a hero in our eyes,” the zoo said in the post.

The zoo also says that the three pups have already fostered a close connection to Kassy’s biological puppies.

Red, Blue, and Orange were born on Sept. 28, and were 11 weeks old as of Thursday. The zoo says they are “healthy, rambunctious, and incredibly cute,” and are looking forward to getting them their own spaces where they can learn how to be African Painted Dogs.

The I.C.A.W. says the zoo has been at the forefront of conservation efforts for the African Painted Dogs, which only have an estimated population of 6,600 left in the wild.