used to toughen the nipples and maintain the mother's milk supply. in persia and turkey puppies were used for this purpose. the same method was practised in the united states in the early 19th century; william potts dewees recommended in 1825 that from the eighth month of pregnancy, expectant mothers should regularly use a puppy to harden the nipples, improve breast secretion and prevent inflammation of the breasts. the practice seems to have fallen out of favour by 1847, as dewees suggested using a nurse or some other skilled person to carry out this task rather than an animal. other or undetermined reasons tribal peoples around the world have breastfed many types of animal. travelers in guyana observed native women breastfeeding a variety of animals, including monkeys, opossums, pacas, agoutis, peccaries and deer. native canadians and americans often breastfed young dogs; an observer commented that the pima people of arizona "withdrew their breasts sooner from their own infants than from young dogs." according to sir john richardson, eighteenth century native americans reportedly fed human breast milk to bison calves, wolves and bears. in 1875, a british surgeon named john nisbet reportedly observed a group of burmese women breastfeeding a royal white elephant in the konbaung court. in the late 16th century, konrad heresbach recommended that mothers rid their bodies of their first milk, called colostrum, rather than allow their babies to drink it. the idea that colostrum was dangerous for a newborn further took hold in europe when thomas newton wrote of its supposed dangers. how widely this idea was accepted is impossible to know, but it could have been an additional purpose for human-animal breastfeeding as women sought a means to discard colostrum while establishing a milk supply for their baby. artistic and political statements in the present day, the act of breastfeeding animals has been used as a sometimes controversial artistic statement. the album art for boys for pele by tori amos includes a photograph of the singer breastfeeding a piglet. in ireland, 22-year-old model and peta member agata dembiecka became the focus of controversy in 2010 when a calendar issued by an animal rescue charity featured a photograph of her suckling a puppy. notes van esterik 1995, p. 147. ensminger 1995, p. 572. radbill 1976, p. 23. savona-ventura 2004, p. 16. radbill 1976, p. 22. kukkonen, taneli (november 2016). "ibn ṭufayl's (d. 1185) ḥayy ibn yaqẓan". in el-rouayheb, khaled; schmidtke, sabine (eds.). the oxford handbook of islamic philosophy. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199917389.013.35. isbn 978-0-19-991738-9. retrieved 2 january 2018. schiebinger 1993, p. 56. kennedy & 20 march 2011. radbill 1976, p. 24. omm sety 2008, p. 2. valenze 2011, p. 159. zwierlein, konrad anton. die ziege als beste und wohlfeilste säugamme. burton 2007, pp. 108–9. routh 1860, p. 156. jackson, melanie. deeper in the pyramid. radbill 1976, p. 25. radbill 1976, p. 26. simoons, frederick j. (1982). "breast-feeding of animals by women: its sociocultural context and geographic occurrence". anthropoid: 435. buck, frank (2000). bring 'em back alive : the best of frank buck. steven lehrer. lubbock, tex.: texas tech university press. p. 37. isbn 0-89672-430-1. oclc 43207125. tomalin 2004, pp. 280–1. "mary cooley". www.familysearch.org. retrieved 2020-10-15. radbill 1976, p. 2–7. radbill 1976, p. 27. serpell, james (2008). in the company of animals: a study of human-animal relationships. cambridge university press. radbill, samuel x. american folk medicine : a symposium, "the role of animals in infant feeding". farley & 11 may 1998. belfast telegraph & 30 december 2010.