Greenacres Rescue: Six-legged puppy Ariel has her extra limbs removed in successful surgery

A six-legged puppy found abandoned in a car park has been offered a new lease on life - after surgery to remove her extra limbs was a smash success.

The young black-and-white spaniel, was found in Pembroke town centre in September last year, has been able to have a special operation to improve her quality of life after a fundraising appeal. The pup was taken in by the Greenacres Rescue charity, near Haverfordwest, and has since been cared for by a foster family.

Ariel - named after Disney's Little Mermaid character because her partially-fused extra back legs resembled a mermaid's tail - was born with multiple birth defects. She was operated on at Langford Vets Small Animal Referral Hospital in Somerset, part of the University of Bristol, to rectify them.

A spokesman for the charity told PA: “Her additional limbs have been removed. Thankfully having the CT images meant they did not discover anything unexpected and although it wasn’t a regular amputation it was ‘uneventful’.

“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," they continued. “We really hope she will now have an easy and quick recovery.”

Vicki Black, hospital director at Langford Vets Small Animal Referral Hospital, told NationalWorld in a statement: “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."

But she said they were "delighted" that the lovely little dog had recovered from her surgery well. “As part of the University of Bristol we are a centre committed to career-long learning and are proud to innovate and treat pets like Ariel."

She added: “Ariel deservedly has many devoted supporters, it was a great pleasure to treat her and work with Greenacres Rescue.”