Is China a good mother?

On the whole, you'd have to say that China isn't a good mother. She's a pit bull terrier, bred to kill, and so a very vicious animal indeed. She shows some of her fighting quality as she gives birth to her first litter of pups, snarling and growling as she endures her labor pains. Esch notes the contrast with her own mother, who died giving birth to her brother, Junior. But at least Mama was a good deal more loving than China. The pit bull gets angry very quickly at her puppies, treating them with the kind of aggression she normally displays during one of her regular fights.
When one of China's puppies gets sick, Skeetah kills it to prevent its sickness from spreading to the rest of the litter. Yet China carries on with raising her surviving puppies as if nothing has happened. She even goes on to eat one of her puppies instead of the food that's been provided. So it's fair to say that China isn't really a good mother; but then, that's not what she's been bred to be.