In a bizarre story out of England, a six-legged Spaniel puppy was abandoned in a parking lot. Thanks to community support, the dog will receive appropriate medical care and will be placed with a foster family.
Passerby finds 6-legged puppy in parking lot
According to the BBC, the 11-week-old puppy was dumped outside of B&M, a supermarket in Pembrokeshire. A passerby noticed the puppy “in a state of distress” on Wednesday. A dog warden transported the dog to Greenacres Rescue near Haverfordwest.
“She was very scared and timid,” Mikey Lawlor, Greenacres’ founder and manager, told the BBC. “She spent that first night at home with me and she was almost completely shut down due to everything she’d been through.”
Lawlor doesn’t suspect that the puppy was out in the elements very long.
At a veterinary exam at Fenton Vets, staff named the puppy Ariel after the main character in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” The name is apt since Ariel has two extra hind legs. The limbs are partially fused together, lending comparison to a mermaid’s tail.
Lawlor described the condition as “essentially one thigh bone which then splits into two shin bones at the knee joint.” Unfortunately, the limbs are not functional. Additionally, Ariel’s pelvis did not form properly because she has two hip joints on one side. And, oddly enough, Ariel also has two vulvas.
Community raises money for puppy’s surgery
The 6-legged puppy will undergo surgery to remove the extra hind legs, though it’s possible she may lose another leg in the process.
“Her normal back right leg has virtually no muscle tone, so that might have to come off too,” Lawlor explained.
Community members raised over £2,000 to pay for the amputations. Veterinarians will also remove the extra vulva, though not until Ariel recovers and is ready for neuter surgery.
While she is in recovery, Ariel will be placed with a foster family. Adoption interest in her is astounding; over 200 families want to adopt the puppy.
However, Lawlor said, “We aren’t taking applications at the moment though, not until we know for definite what the future is going to hold for her.”
