Molly the pet terrier has a ‘sex change’ operation

A FAMILY dog has undergone a “sex change” operation after it emerged that the seemingly female terrier had been born with testicles in place of ovaries.

Dog lovers Frank, 63, and Mary Finlay, 56, from Glasgow, were stunned when their local vet told them earlier this year that their Jack Russell puppy, Molly, was a hermaphrodite.

The couple had adopted the pet in late 2015 from a breeder who attended college in Oban with their daughter.

Mr Finlay, a part-time church caretaker who has owned “six or seven” dogs previously said they did not notice anything unusual at first.

He said: “She was just a normal, tiny, sat-in-yourhand puppy. She had a tiny ‘appendage’ if you can call it that but because Bonnie, our previous dog, had been a long-haired Collie you never looked at her bits so much.

“It all started after Molly had her injections and she was allowed to go out for walks. I noticed that in the house, with the training mats, she would squat to do a pee but outside she would lift her leg like a male dog – which girl dogs don’t normally do.

“I gave it a month or two and around January or February this year we had a vet’s consultation and we said to the vet about it. She had a look and then said ‘hold on, let me get one of my senior colleagues in’.

“They went away and had a look at her and came back with the idea that she might be a hermaphrodite.”

It has since emerged that Molly is in fact a “pseudohermaphrodite”, meaning that she did not possess full male and female reproductive organs but instead had testicles in place of ovaries in her abdomen, despite outwardly appearing female.

The phenomenon is “extremely rare”, occurring in only around one in 6,800 dogs. Incidences of full canine hermaphrodites are even rarer, however, at fewer than one in 100,000 dogs.

Although a DNA screen has not been performed, vets believe that Molly is “genetically male” – probably possessing the male XY chromosomes – but they took the decision to remove the male parts after she showed signs of discomfort.

Ross Allen, a senior vet at the Roundhouse Veterinary Hospital in Glasgow, said it was the only case he had ever come across in his 15 years as a vet. He said: “Molly was what is defined medically as a male pseudo hermaphrodite or more commonly ‘intersex’. Her particular anatomy meant that whilst Molly appeared to be a female, closer examination revealed elements of both male and female external genitalia and unfortunately this was leading to significant genital discomfort.

“If left untreated this risked her developing a longterm and debilitating condition. We decided that the very best solution for Molly was to proceed with definitive surgery to create an anatomical situation which would avoid ongoing issues or discomfort.”

The complex surgical procedure involved removing her pseudo male sexual organ and forming a functional urethral opening where the female genitalia would normally be found.

Mr Allen added: “The surgery was a great success and Molly is much more comfortable and happier as a