A calf was born with a fifth leg on its head in Baxter County, Arkansas. The little Angus calf came into the world with a fifth leg, but that’s not all. “When it came in it had five legs but it also had six feet. So the leg on top of its head had two feet on top of the leg.” A veterinarian successfully removed the fifth leg from its head. But now, the calf, dubbed Legless, has a tough road for survival.
A calf in Baxter County was recently born with a medical condition that the odds of developing are nearly 1 in 100,000. Now, the veterinarian says the calf, named Legless, has a tough road for survival.
According to a news report, Dr. Rob Conner said the calf has a condition called polymelia. It is a defect of the neural tissue as the baby calf is developing. Conner said he has seen calves develop the condition but has not seen one survive.
“I’ve delivered dead babies that have extra feet or that had genetic defects, but I never had saw one that was born alive. And I’ve seen odd things like teeth growing out of a calf’s neck, or hair underneath the skin in a tumor,” Conner said. “But, no, I’ve never seen a full leg and shoulder growing out of the top of a calf’s head.”
Conner said he had to remove more than just the leg: “As we removed the shoulder and leg from the top of the calf’s head, there was a defect in the calf’s skull about a quarter size with brain tissue coming up and out of the hole. So we had essentially a brain tumor on top of the extra leg,” Conner said.
The doctor was able to remove the leg and Conner said he does not believe the animal will have any other complications.
That would be awesome if the calf was able to live! Have a prayer for Legless.
Interesting that they removed it so quickly and smoothly.
Why? but really, why was it important to remove it, especcialy in this industry.
this went too smoothly.
i think it have could be at least an interesting experiment, but i can suspect it was financed by the gov.
put the thing under the carpet quickly.