Gastonia’s five-legged dog headed to freak show

Precious, the five-legged Chihuahua puppy from Gastonia, was 12 weeks away from getting her extra leg amputated, thanks to an anonymous donor, when Calvin Owensby received a call from the owner of a Coney Island freak show Monday afternoon.

Now Precious will keep her fifth leg forever. She’ll join a two-headed cow, a two-headed snake, and 25 other unusual animals in John Strong’s Shows on Coney Island.

Owensby sold her for $3,000.

“I’m sad. I’m really sad. But we’re going through hard times,” Owensby said. “We don’t want to do it but we have to.”

[Read the whole story here at the Gaston Gazette.]

“Soup Nazi” actor signs autographs in Gastonia

“Before I did the Soup Nazi I was just this beg-borrow-and-steal actor, but after I did it everyone in Hollywood knew who I was,” he said. “The best thing I could say is that it has become my life.”

In the “Seinfeld” episode, Thomas’ character owns a soup restaurant in New York. An immigrant from some unnamed Middle Eastern country, he speaks limited English and enforces strict rules upon his patrons.

[Read the whole story here at the Gaston Gazette.]

Dog’s fifth leg comes as a surprise

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Owensby said he noticed the fifth leg immediately when Precious was born, and it shocked him.

“When it came out, it kept coming out, and the foot came out with it,” Owensby said. “It surprised me. I didn’t know what to do.”

He said he immediately called The Pet Hospital in Bessemer City. Veterinarian John Lastellay told Owensby he had never seen such a defect. Lastellay recommended putting the puppy to sleep, Owensby said, but he refused.

“I said, ‘No, you ain’t gonna kill it,’” Owensby recalled. “I didn’t want to put it to sleep because that’s something unusual. I’m gonna keep it.”

[Read the whole story here at the Gaston Gazette.]