Eleven weeks after she was born, a female spaniel puppy with six legs was abandoned in a parking lot. She was found and taken to a local shelter, where they studied her case and made decisions about her future.
A passerby in Pembrokeshire, England, saw a black puppy with two extra back legs abandoned in a parking lot in distress. They knew they had to help the little creature, so they picked it up and drove to safety at an animal rescue.
The good samaritan drove the puppy to Greenacres Rescue near Haverfordwest on Wednesday, where she has been kept for close observation so veterinarians could decide what would be best for her health moving forward.
The puppy was named Ariel after the “The Little Mermaid” character as vets likened her two extra back legs — which were partially fused — to the character’s tail.
What Will Happen to Ariel?
After being brought to Greenacres Rescue, vets immediately assessed Ariel’s situation and decided what would be best for her future. They have now settled on what they will do to help the pup.
Mikey Lawlor, Greenacres’ founder and manager, shared that Ariel was deeply distressed when she arrived at the rescue. He said:
“She spent that first night at home with me, and she was almost completely shut down due to everything she’d been through.”
Lawlor clarified that Ariel has two extra back legs growing on her right side. She has one thigh bone that splits into two shin bones at the knee point. However, the legs are useless.
Due to having two hip bones on one side of her pelvis, it has not formed correctly. This has caused her back right leg to have dangerously low muscle tone, which might mean it has to come off along with her two extra legs.
Not only was Ariel born with two extra legs, but she also has an extra vulva, which must be removed. However, Lawlor confirmed they would wait until she was ready for neutering.
Lawlor shared that they would only take applications for foster homes once they knew what was next for Ariel. He said:
“So the plan now is to give Ariel a month to get over her ordeal and settle into life with a foster family, during which time we’ll monitor her and see how she gets on.”
When asked why it could be that Ariel was born with so many anomalies, Lawlor admitted that they had no idea, saying it was something they had never seen before in any animal that had been at the rescue.
Greenacres Asked for Donations
Soon after Ariel was found, Greenacres shared her story on their Facebook page. They asked anyone with information about where she may have come from to share their insights.
The rescue also asked that the person who had rescued her and dropped her off contact them because the number they had left when they brought her in was incorrect. They confirmed that any information they received would be kept private.
They then confirmed that she would not be up for fostering and added their donation details at the end of the post. So far, 163 people have donated to Ariel’s cause, totaling over $2,900.
Greenacres has since shared many updates about the pup on their social media, which people have been following. In one post, they said:
“For now, we can relax and just let her be a pup. She has a long road of surgery and recovery ahead, but we are confident we can ‘get her right,’ and that’s all that matters.”
Just a day ago, the rescue shared photos of Ariel and said that since she was taking world news by storm, they wanted to update her fans and let them know that their applications were still very much welcome.
Each time Greenacres shares an update about Ariel, it receives thousands of likes and hundreds of shares from all those who have been closely following Ariel’s story all this time.
