Six-legged spaniel undergoes surgery to remove extra limbs
LONDON — A spaniel born with six legs that was found abandoned in a supermarket parking lot is now like other dogs after having her extra limbs surgically removed.
Ariel, who was named for “The Little Mermaid” character because the additional appendage with two paws on the end looked a flipper, ran through the grass Saturday as she adjusted to life on four legs.
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cles head the wrong way, are the centerpieces of the effort. The DOT has allocated $23 million for projects that are either in design or will be soon, and $5.6 million has been spent in an attempt to stop incidents such as the five crashes that killed seven people last year; 13 collisions that resulted in 23 fatalities in 2022; and the four collisions linked to four deaths in 2021.
Josh Morgan, communications director for the DOT, noted that the formal effort to curb wrong-way fatalities dates back to 2022, when the General Assembly first approved funding for the program that created a system of flashing lights for motorists heading the wrong way on exit ramps. About 140 locations are targeted and 19 currently have systems activating warning lights, while nine have new technology to notify State Police when vehicles are going in the opposition.
One site, on Interstate-691 in Meriden, is credited with stopping a wrong-way driver back in December, at 3:30 a.m.
“She is doing brilliantly,” said Vicki Black, director of the Langford Vets Small Animal Referral Hospital, where she was operated on Thursday.
The dog, who had multiple birth defects, was found in the center of Pembroke, Wales, in September. Greenacres Rescue took her in and raised funds for her surgery.
Black said the hospital, which is part of the University of Bristol, had never seen a six-legged dog or performed such an operation.
“Ariel was a complicated little dog,” Black said. “We are a center committed to career-long learning and are proud to innovate and treat pets like Ariel.”
The extra legs extended from the right hindquarter and appeared to be of no use, dangling beside her wagging tail, as she walked a bit awkwardly in a video shot before the operation.
On Saturday as she was discharged, she took to the lawn outside the hospital with the determination of a bird dog, nose to the ground and pulling on her leash.
DETECTING WRONG-WAY DRIVERS
The DOT’s active-detection systems for wrong-way drivers are located at the following locations.
• Colchester: Route 2 Exit 18 east • Danbury: I-84 Exit 8
• East Hartford: I-84 west HOV Exit at Silver Lane
• Groton: I-95 Exit 88 south
• Groton: I-95 Exit 87 south (Route 349 at Meridian Street)
• Groton: Route 349 Exit 3A north
in a driving rainstorm. The vehicle’s move set off the warning lights, the driver stopped, made a three-point turn and exited the highway.
While officials await toxicology reports on the woman who was killed in the recent crash on I-95 in Branford, Morgan said that about nine out of 10 wrong-way drivers drove while impaired by alcohol and/or drugs. A proposal to lower the current .08-percent blood alcohol limit in Connecticut .05-percent for drivers did not pan out last year. The proposal is likely to be revisited in the legislative session that begins next month.
He said that the DOT is planning a fresh round of radio
• Meriden: Route 691 Exit 2A east • Milford: I-95 Exit 34 • Montville: I-395 Exit 6 north • Southington: I-84 Exit 28 west • Southington: I-84 Exit 29 west • Southington: I-84 Exit 32 east • Southington: I-84 Exit 32 west • Stonington: I-95 Exit 91 south • Wethersfield: I-Exit 25S south
and TV ads to underscore the dangers.
Statewide, the DOT evaluated 700 ramp locations and 236 were identified as high-risk, including the Wilbur Cross Parkway ramp where northbound traffic on Dixwell Avenue in Hamden turns left to head toward the nearby West Rock tunnel. Vehicles that make left turns too soon can end up heading toward exiting traffic. Ramp locations near bars and restaurants were also taken into account, because nationally, impaired drivers are more likely to mistakenly than sober motorists to enter highways the wrong way.
Other factors considered by DOT planners include multiple
to Route 3 Elm Street
• Windsor: I-91 north HOV Lane Exit to Route 218
• Windsor: Route 291 Exit 5 west
• Windsor Locks: I-91 Exit 42 north
• Windsor Locks: I-91 Exit 42 south
Source: Connecticut Department of Transportation
off ramps meeting at the same location; histories of wrong-way incidents; insufficient highway lighting; and guardrails or raised medians separating the entrance and exit ramps.
The DOT is partnering with the University of Connecticut in keeping track of traffic and fatality data. Morgan said that between 35 and 50 more traffic ramps are in the process of getting the wrong-way technology, including signage, sensor cameras and other technology. Delays in the delivery of material is being blamed for the phased roll out.
“Crashes are virtually always fatal,” Morgan said, noting that there is little insight into wrong way driver actions in the minutes before crashes. Drivers are warned to stay to the right when they see vehicles heading toward them. Wrong way drivers could have just gotten on the highway or had been going the wrong way for miles, he said.
State Sen. Christine Cohen, D-Guilford, co-chairman of the legislative Transportation Committee, said Friday that the DOT program is making progress.
“Certainly these on and off ramps next to each other are high-risk and troubling, and have been identified as such,” Cohen said in a phone interview. “We want to see all of them addressed. We know that implementing counter measures saves lives. We want people to see the flashing lights, the wrong way signs and at the same time notify law enforcement. We know that most of these crashes are fatal. The numbers were going in the wrong director, and the legislature stepped in with the DOT to address it. We’d like to see it fully rolled out tomorrow, but we realize there are limitations.”