A six-legged cocker spaniel found abandoned in a supermarket parking lot in Wales has had surgery to remove her extra limbs. The pooch was named Ariel, after the Little Mermaid, because her extra limbs were fused together, resembling a mermaidâs tail. Greenacres Rescue, a non-profit group from Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales, took Ariel in, arranged her surgery, and found her a foster family. Ariel, who was born with multiple birth defects, was operated on at Langford Vets Small Animal Referral Hospital. Surgeon Aaron Lutchman performed the surgery and managed to save all four limbs amid fears that one hind leg might have to be amputated. âSheâs doing really well, sheâs bounced back and sheâs a happy little dog and weâre hoping sheâs going to go on to lead a fabulous little life,â said Lutchman. âSheâs got her own little character and even though sheâs had a tough start in life she really has done well to come through this as she has⌠if we can do what we can to help then thatâs just absolutely brilliant.â According to Mikey Lawlor, founder and manager of Greenacres Rescue, Ariel was skinny and distressed when she was rescued. âThe vet who initially assessed Ariel noted that, in addition to her two surplus back legs, she also had an additional vulva,â said Lawlor. A CT scan later revealed that Ariel was born with only one kidney, which increased the complexity of the medical treatment she required. Unfortunately, the pupâs pelvis never formed properly because she had two hip joints on one side of the body. As a result, Arielâs normal hind leg had no muscle tone, so there was a chance that that leg had to be amputated as well. âThankfully, that wasnât the case though as itâs shown signs of having strengthened a lot in recent months,â Lawlor added.Ariel is recovering nicely after her surgery, having lots of love and fuss from the nursing team. Now that the surgery is behind her, everyone is hoping that sheâll have an easy and quick recovery.âThere were two procedures which lasted about two hours, but both went fine. The next day she was up, walking around and eating and drinking.ââNow we just need to keep our fingers crossed she doesnât get any infections, but she really is in the best of hands,â added Lawlor according to BBC. The brave pooch was discharged over the weekend and has already returned home to her foster family in Wales. According to her vet, Ariel has to rest for the next two weeks to recover completely. The founder of Greenacres Rescue hopes that the organization will be able to find a forever home for Ariel after she completes physiotherapy and recovery. âThe response we had to Arielâs story so far, including calls and emails from as far away as New York and Australia, has been incredible - so Iâve no doubt sheâll be snapped up,â said Lawlor.âI just canât say enough of a thank you to everyone whoâs contributed to helping her.â The organization raised around $19,000 for Arielâs life-changing surgery thanks to donations from people all over the world.âAriel was a complicated little dog whose care required close collaboration across a number of our specialist teams, including orthopedics, soft tissue surgery, anesthesia, and radiology,â said Vicki Black, the director of Langford Vetsâ Hospital. âAs part of the University of Bristol, we are a center committed to career-long learning and are proud to innovate and treat pets like Ariel. We are delighted such a lovely animal has recovered well from her surgery.âJoin the PetGuide community. Get the latest pet news and product recommendations by subscribing to our newsletter here.