A six-legged dog found abandoned in a supermarket car park in Wales has undergone surgery to remove her extra limbs.
Ariel, a spaniel, was born with multiple health defects. She was named after the Disney princess because her extra back legs were partly fused together, resembling a mermaid’s tail.
She was taken in by Greenacres Rescue, a non-profit group based in the town of Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The group arranged Ariel’s surgery and set her up with a foster family.
Ariel is recovering and walking normally, Greenacres Rescue said in a post shared on Facebook.
“Our wonderful and special little spaniel has been discharged from Small Animal Referral Hospital Langford Vets University of Bristol and is back in the comfort of her wonderful foster home,” the group wrote, sharing photos of Ariel wrapped up in a red blanket post-surgery.
They added that her procedure “went as well as expected” and she now has a few weeks of recovery ahead of her.
“Ariel has to now rest for the next 10 to 14 days to recover,” the group said. “We will post updates over that time.”
“There were two procedures which lasted about two hours but both went fine,” the charity’s founder Mikey Lawlor said of Ariel’s operation in comments to the UK national news Press Association agency.
“The next day she was up, walking around and eating and drinking.”
Lawlor said there had been an outpouring of support for Ariel from people around the world, including calls and emails from as far as Australia.
“I just can’t say enough of a thank you to everyone who’s contributed to helping her,” Lawlor said.
Ariel will likely be discharged from hospital this weekend and brought home to her foster family.
