Puppy with ‘second tail’ growing from his head found wandering the streets
The 10-week-old dog was rescued and given the name Narwhal.
A rescue puppy with an apparent second tail growing out of his head has been described as a “little anomaly that’s absolutely perfect”.
The 10-week-old dog has been taken in by Mac’s Mission – a rescue operation that specialises in helping dogs with special needs – after being found wandering the streets and given the name Narwhal, because the protuberance resembles a tusk.
“Everybody wants to see him. I’ve had so many volunteers have come over and said ‘hey, can we play with Narwhal?’ And it’s now become the thing to take selfies with him because he’s just so cute.”
Narwhal visited the vet on Tuesday where X-rays showed there were no bones in the “tail”, which does not wag, and he was given a clean bill of health.
She said they have had a dog with five legs, a three-legged dachshund, blind and deaf animals, as well as dogs with cleft palates and mange – but she has never previously seen anything like Narwhal.
“Everybody has said that it looks like a tail that just didn’t develop fully, like he might have tried to absorb a twin and it just didn’t work all the way,” she said.
While her preference would be to leave the second tail untouched, she said they will remove it if it starts to grow inwards or to get in his eye.
And they will not adopt him out until they are satisfied it will not develop into an issue further down the line.
For now, he is “just a normal, happy, healthy puppy” who is getting lots of attention.
“Everyone sees him and they literally want to rip him out of my arms immediately,” Ms Steffen said.
“He loves it, he’s like, ‘who’s going to hold me next?’
“He’s just this little anomaly that’s absolutely perfect.”