21 Jul 2009, 12:28 am
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifest ... enDocument
Quote:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- How much would you pay for a dog with five legs?
If you're Allyson Siegel, the answer is $4,000, plus at least $2,000 more for medical expenses to remove the extra leg.
The 45-year-old Charlotte woman bought Precious the puppy -- whom she has renamed Lilly -- from Gastonia, N.C., resident Calvin Owensby last week because she couldn't bear to see her sold to a show that features deformed animals.
Lilly was born about six weeks ago to Owensby's Chihuahua Diamond and is a Chihuahua-terrier mix. One of six puppies, she seemed healthy, except for the extra appendage. The fifth leg, white and without feeling, hangs down between her two back legs.
When John Strong, the owner of a Coney Island sideshow, heard about Lilly from a friend, he knew he had to have her.
Owensby asked for $3,000, and Strong immediately agreed to the price. "There are millions of dogs with four legs -- and there are only three with five legs I'm aware of," said Strong, who makes it his business to find the deformed animals.
The money couldn't have come at a better time for Owensby, a 57-year-old electrician who was laid off in December. "I've been looking for work, can't find work nowhere," he said. "It hurts when you go from $500 a week to nothing."
Strong saw it as a good deal too. Not only had he passed over the chance to buy a five-legged dog just last year, he moved 27 live animals and 250 stuffed, preserved or mummified ones to Coney Island for the summer season just this spring, setting up down the street from a well-established rival sideshow.
But when a local paper published Owensby's plans -- and his phone number -- he started getting calls from irate animal lovers, protesting the sale and "cussing me out."
Allyson Siegel also read the story, and decided she couldn't let the adorable puppy live the life of a carnie. She has donated to animal charities and helped injured animals, but she felt she had to do more for this little dog.
[url=http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifestyle/stories.nsf/pets/story/E1A3BF0B6D19AAA8862575F8001D2AC7?OpenDocument
](ARTICLE CONTINUES)[/url]
If you're Allyson Siegel, the answer is $4,000, plus at least $2,000 more for medical expenses to remove the extra leg.
The 45-year-old Charlotte woman bought Precious the puppy -- whom she has renamed Lilly -- from Gastonia, N.C., resident Calvin Owensby last week because she couldn't bear to see her sold to a show that features deformed animals.
Lilly was born about six weeks ago to Owensby's Chihuahua Diamond and is a Chihuahua-terrier mix. One of six puppies, she seemed healthy, except for the extra appendage. The fifth leg, white and without feeling, hangs down between her two back legs.
When John Strong, the owner of a Coney Island sideshow, heard about Lilly from a friend, he knew he had to have her.
Owensby asked for $3,000, and Strong immediately agreed to the price. "There are millions of dogs with four legs -- and there are only three with five legs I'm aware of," said Strong, who makes it his business to find the deformed animals.
The money couldn't have come at a better time for Owensby, a 57-year-old electrician who was laid off in December. "I've been looking for work, can't find work nowhere," he said. "It hurts when you go from $500 a week to nothing."
Strong saw it as a good deal too. Not only had he passed over the chance to buy a five-legged dog just last year, he moved 27 live animals and 250 stuffed, preserved or mummified ones to Coney Island for the summer season just this spring, setting up down the street from a well-established rival sideshow.
But when a local paper published Owensby's plans -- and his phone number -- he started getting calls from irate animal lovers, protesting the sale and "cussing me out."
Allyson Siegel also read the story, and decided she couldn't let the adorable puppy live the life of a carnie. She has donated to animal charities and helped injured animals, but she felt she had to do more for this little dog.
[url=http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifestyle/stories.nsf/pets/story/E1A3BF0B6D19AAA8862575F8001D2AC7?OpenDocument
](ARTICLE CONTINUES)[/url]
21 Jul 2009, 1:43 am
21 Jul 2009, 2:51 am
21 Jul 2009, 6:36 am
21 Jul 2009, 12:03 pm
21 Jul 2009, 5:13 pm
sartresue
Veteran
Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Age: 69
Gender: Female
Posts: 6,313
Location: The Castle of Shock and Awe-tism
22 Jul 2009, 3:46 pm
Apple_in_my_Eye wrote:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifest ... enDocument
Quote:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- How much would you pay for a dog with five legs?
If you're Allyson Siegel, the answer is $4,000, plus at least $2,000 more for medical expenses to remove the extra leg.
The 45-year-old Charlotte woman bought Precious the puppy -- whom she has renamed Lilly -- from Gastonia, N.C., resident Calvin Owensby last week because she couldn't bear to see her sold to a show that features deformed animals.
Lilly was born about six weeks ago to Owensby's Chihuahua Diamond and is a Chihuahua-terrier mix. One of six puppies, she seemed healthy, except for the extra appendage. The fifth leg, white and without feeling, hangs down between her two back legs.
When John Strong, the owner of a Coney Island sideshow, heard about Lilly from a friend, he knew he had to have her.
Owensby asked for $3,000, and Strong immediately agreed to the price. "There are millions of dogs with four legs -- and there are only three with five legs I'm aware of," said Strong, who makes it his business to find the deformed animals.
The money couldn't have come at a better time for Owensby, a 57-year-old electrician who was laid off in December. "I've been looking for work, can't find work nowhere," he said. "It hurts when you go from $500 a week to nothing."
Strong saw it as a good deal too. Not only had he passed over the chance to buy a five-legged dog just last year, he moved 27 live animals and 250 stuffed, preserved or mummified ones to Coney Island for the summer season just this spring, setting up down the street from a well-established rival sideshow.
But when a local paper published Owensby's plans -- and his phone number -- he started getting calls from irate animal lovers, protesting the sale and "cussing me out."
Allyson Siegel also read the story, and decided she couldn't let the adorable puppy live the life of a carnie. She has donated to animal charities and helped injured animals, but she felt she had to do more for this little dog.
[url=http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifestyle/stories.nsf/pets/story/E1A3BF0B6D19AAA8862575F8001D2AC7?OpenDocument
](ARTICLE CONTINUES)[/url]
If you're Allyson Siegel, the answer is $4,000, plus at least $2,000 more for medical expenses to remove the extra leg.
The 45-year-old Charlotte woman bought Precious the puppy -- whom she has renamed Lilly -- from Gastonia, N.C., resident Calvin Owensby last week because she couldn't bear to see her sold to a show that features deformed animals.
Lilly was born about six weeks ago to Owensby's Chihuahua Diamond and is a Chihuahua-terrier mix. One of six puppies, she seemed healthy, except for the extra appendage. The fifth leg, white and without feeling, hangs down between her two back legs.
When John Strong, the owner of a Coney Island sideshow, heard about Lilly from a friend, he knew he had to have her.
Owensby asked for $3,000, and Strong immediately agreed to the price. "There are millions of dogs with four legs -- and there are only three with five legs I'm aware of," said Strong, who makes it his business to find the deformed animals.
The money couldn't have come at a better time for Owensby, a 57-year-old electrician who was laid off in December. "I've been looking for work, can't find work nowhere," he said. "It hurts when you go from $500 a week to nothing."
Strong saw it as a good deal too. Not only had he passed over the chance to buy a five-legged dog just last year, he moved 27 live animals and 250 stuffed, preserved or mummified ones to Coney Island for the summer season just this spring, setting up down the street from a well-established rival sideshow.
But when a local paper published Owensby's plans -- and his phone number -- he started getting calls from irate animal lovers, protesting the sale and "cussing me out."
Allyson Siegel also read the story, and decided she couldn't let the adorable puppy live the life of a carnie. She has donated to animal charities and helped injured animals, but she felt she had to do more for this little dog.
[url=http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifestyle/stories.nsf/pets/story/E1A3BF0B6D19AAA8862575F8001D2AC7?OpenDocument
](ARTICLE CONTINUES)[/url]
Good dog topic
The leg itself is deformed. The paw pad is all wrong. Such a cutie.
In the old days this dog would be exhibited until it died, then if would be mummified or placed in a jar full of formaldehyde.
What about the other 27 dogs still alive, and being exhibited?
Douglas_MacNeill
Veteran
Joined: 10 May 2007
Age: 60
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,326
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
23 Jul 2009, 2:50 pm
24 Jul 2009, 7:01 pm
24 Jul 2009, 11:30 pm
31 Jul 2009, 7:09 pm
31 Jul 2009, 8:53 pm
Brittany2907
The ultimate storm is eternally on it's
Joined: 9 Jun 2007
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,718
Location: New Zealand
31 Jul 2009, 9:55 pm
Quote:
Strong scoffs at the notion that his show constitutes animal abuse, and said he would have given Lilly a good life. And although Strong is disappointed that he didn't get the dog, he said he's counting his blessings. "Sometimes, you just gotta say, 'OK, I still have nine live, two-headed animals,' and move on."
This man is disgusting. He doesn't think exploitation is abuse? He needs a reality check!!
Anyway I guess I should try to focus on the positive - this puppy was saved from a life of being labelled a freak.
We need more people to step up and do the right thing in this world.
01 Aug 2009, 12:34 am
Douglas_MacNeill
Veteran
Joined: 10 May 2007
Age: 60
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,326
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
01 Aug 2009, 9:51 am
opal wrote:
If the leg had no feeling it would be best to remove it; as the dog would keep injuring it, and as it couldn't feel anything wrong, it could get infected or even broken.
Opal, you may be a bit behind on the news, but your heart's in the right place.
That's exactly what Allison felt when she first bought the dog and then looked
around for a vet who could remove that fifth leg.
(We both have reason to be relieved about the surgery, too; the story is that
some vet from New York City heard the tale and agreed to do the surgery for free.)
02 Aug 2009, 7:49 pm
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