Animal shelter ‘floored’ seeing puppy’s X-rays detailing ‘rare’ condition, photos show
UPDATE: Bella was adopted by a Milwaukee woman on May 3, according to the Wisconsin Humane Society.
The original story is below.
This 6-month-old puppy is eager to soon find a home with a yard to run around, but an “extremely rare” feature about her has the Wisconsin Humane Society “floored.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this in a dog,” medical director Nancy Weiss said in a news release.
Bella is “a true unicorn in both body and spirit,” according to the Wisconsin Humane Society. She also has a fifth leg, according to the shelter located in Kenosha.
X-rays revealed Bella has a rare condition called dimelia which caused her to grow an extra leg inside her right, hind leg, according to the shelter’s April 25 Facebook post.
Her hind leg has two femurs, two tibias, two fibulas and nine toes, according to the shelter. A typical dog leg has one femur, tibia and fibula and about four to five toes.
She’s the “first ‘five-legged’ dog we’ve seen in our 145 year history,” the shelter said. It’s a congenital anomaly that causes a dog to grow duplicate bones.
Bella is still able to go on walks and play, but the fifth leg does limit her.
“The extra bones and condition do somewhat affect her mobility,” Angela Speed, vice president of marketing and communications, said in the news release, “although she loves to go for walks and run around in our play yard.”
Though she’s not up for adoption just yet, the shelter said they expect to soon.
This story was originally published April 25, 2024 at 5:05 PM with the headline "Animal shelter ‘floored’ seeing puppy’s X-rays detailing ‘rare’ condition, photos show."
