IT'S no great surprise that Annie the dog would run fast. She is, after all, a greyhound. But to do it with three legs?

Well that’s pretty remarkable.

Annie’s troublesome right rear leg not only spelled the end of her potential career as a race dog, it also very nearly cost her life.

“Annie came to us as a rescue greyhound through Murdoch Vets, via Greyhound Adoptions WA,” her owner Mark McLauchlin said.

Camera Icon Annie recovering after surgery. Credit: PerthNow

“Annie had been taken to Murdoch by her trainer because she had an injury to her rear leg that meant her growth plate and muscles didn’t develop and her leg was pretty much useless — it was just hanging there as a balance tool for her.

“She never really used it to touch the ground. But that meant she wasn’t able to race.

“Murdoch Vets phoned up the greyhound adoptions people and said ‘we’ve got a puppy greyhound in here to be put down but we don’t want to put her down, but somebody has to come pick her up tonight’.

“So we raced to Murdoch vet and get her.”

For Mr McLauchlin that meant a 400km-plus trek up to Perth from Walpole, in WA’s south.

But Annie’s struggles weren’t over just yet.

“We tried all sorts of therapy with her leg to try and get it repaired,” Mr McLauchlin explained.

“She’s had Bowen therapy, she’s had massage, she’s had acupuncture. All those things over the course of about 12 months.

“But nothing seemed to fix or resolve the issue. So the decision was made about six weeks ago – she had a fall and injured her leg again – to have it taken off. She had mid-thigh amputation.”

Camera Icon Credit: PerthNow

“She’s young at heart — she’s only two-and-a-half,” Mr McLauchlin said.

“She’s just like your household puppy but just bigger — nearly 30kg. She’s great with kids and animals ... we’ve got farm animals, sheep down here and she plays with them.

“She can still outrun [our other greyhound] Penny in terms of speed, so it hasn’t slowed her down.”

For more information or to donate to Annie’s fund, contact http://greyhoundadoptionswa.com.au.