6-legged Dog Found In Wales, Once Abandoned; Operated Upon To Remove Extra Limbs

A dog with six legs, discovered abandoned in a car park, has undergone surgery to have the extra limbs removed. A spaniel puppy named Ariel was discovered in Pembroke, Wales in September of the previous year. Thanks to a successful fundraising campaign, Ariel underwent the necessary surgery. The Greenacres Rescue charity, located near Haverfordwest took in the dog, and it has been under the care of a foster family. She was given the name Ariel, inspired by the character from Disney's film The Little Mermaid, as her partially fused extra back legs were noted to bear a resemblance to a mermaid's tail.

Ariel, born with multiple birth defects, underwent surgery at Langford Vets Small Animal Referral Hospital in Somerset.

“Her additional limbs have been removed. Thankfully, having the CT [computerised tomography] images meant they did not discover anything unexpected, and although it wasn’t a regular amputation, it was ‘uneventful’, said a spokesperson for the charity. 

“When we spoke, she was in recovery, having lots of love and fuss from the nursing team but all be reassured she’s doing well. We really hope she will now have an easy and quick recovery,” he added.

Mikey Lawlor, the founder and manager of Greenacres Rescue told a local news outlet “There were two procedures which lasted about two hours, but both went fine. The next day she was up, walking around and eating and drinking."

“Now we just need to keep our fingers crossed she doesn’t get any infections, but she really is in the best hands,” he added.

The hope is that Ariel can be released this weekend, allowing her to reunite with her foster family in West Wales.

“Then, after she’s had several weeks of physiotherapy and recovery, we’ll see about finding her a forever home,” said Lawlor.

He expressed that Ariel’s story had been “incredible”, with calls and emails from as far away as Australia. “I just can’t say enough of a thank you to everyone who’s contributed to helping her,” he added.

“Ariel was a complicated little dog whose care required close collaboration across a number of our specialist-led teams including orthopaedics, soft-tissue surgery, anaesthesia and radiology said Vicki Black, the Langford Vets hospital director.

“We are delighted such a lovely dog has recovered from her surgery well," he said.

“Ariel deservedly has many devoted supporters. It was a great pleasure to treat her and work with Greenacres Rescue.”