Five-legged Lilly went from nature’s oddity to normal pooch last week: The dog is back on her own four feet.
The seven-week-old Chihuahua/terrier pup was an amputation away from becoming a member of a Coney Island sideshow — as one of the acts.
But the dog’s owner, a North Carolina woman named Allyson Siegel, had the extra limb removed July 23.
“Something that simple changed her life,” Siegel told a Charlotte television station. “She did wonderful,” she added. “The surgeon said she woke up quicker than they thought. She’s running quicker than they thought. She is a ball of fire.”
John Strong, the owner of the show, reportedly said he had a deal to buy the pup, and said he may still sue to claim her. Strong, according to WCNC, paid $1,000 as a down payment for the puppy, for use in his sideshow. But Siegel upped the ante, paying $4,000, a thousand more than Strong intended to pay.
Strong, who could not be reached at press time, reportedly said fifth leg or not, the show must go on: he wants Lilly’s leg frozen and reattached. “She doesn’t have a right. I don’t like people cutting off my puppy’s leg,” he told AM New York.
Genetic mutants like a multiple-headed turtle are on display in Strong’s Freaks of Nature sideshow.
— Gary Buiso
