Tortured Calif. tortoise returns home

AP-YAhoo! ^ | 8-18-07

[Dysart]

VENTURA, Calif. - A 42-pound pet tortoise that was slashed and mutilated after being stolen from a family's yard is home following more than a month in a rehabilitation center.

The tortoise, Bob, heartily ate a meal of hibiscus flowers and roses — its first since having a feeding tube pulled from its neck, owner Dorothy Sullivan said Friday.

"He's eating like a pig," she said. "He's doing great and we're pretty excited."

The 25-year-old African spurred tortoise was snatched from Sullivan's yard on July 7. Police, following an anonymous tip, found the injured animal behind an apartment complex several days later.

The tortoise's hind legs were badly cut, a toe was cut off, its neck was slashed and its shell was punctured with a sharp object. The attacker tried to cut the animal out of its shell and threw it against a wall, police said.

Jose "Tony" Mosqueda, 18, of Ventura, was arrested and charged with animal cruelty. He pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison, prosecutors said.

Sullivan said Bob is a friend to her 6-year-old autistic son William, who rarely spoke to people but chattered to the animal. She said the boy was withdrawn during the tortoise's stay at Turtle Dreams, a Montecito rehab center, but has started talking again since Bob's return.

"It's made a good impact on our son. He's sleeping through the night and he's opening up," Sullivan said.

A benefit concert was planned for Sunday at a Ventura night club to raise money to help pay the animal's veterinary bills.

[Dysart]

This file photo released by the Ventura, Calif., Police Department, Friday, July 13, 2007, shows Bob, an endangered African spurred tortoise, who was slashed, stabbed and mutilated after being stolen Saturday from his home in Ventura. The 42-pound pet tortoise is home Friday, Aug. 17, 2007 following more than a month in a rehabilitation center. The tortoise, Bob, heartily ate a meal of hibiscus flowers and roses, its first since having a feeding tube pulled from its neck, owner Dorothy Sullivan said Friday. (AP Photo/Ventura County Police Department)

[Larry Lucido]

How do you repair a tortoise, anyway? Bondo?

[Mayhem]

Turtle Wax

[lawgirl]

what is a private family doing owning an endangered animal?

[Aria]

How anyone can do these things to another living thing is beyond me. Horrible!

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Epoxy works pretty good. Most people may not know that tortoises become very tame, to the point of coming when called. I can see how this family is very attached to the critter.

[SergeiRachmaninov]

How anyone can do these things to another living thing is beyond me. Horrible!

I mostly agree with your sentiment...but then I remember some of my genocidal rages against cockroaches (God's creatures, too). In their society, I am considered worse than Chemical Ali. I fear that their take on me will be the one that is ultimately written into history. After all, it is ~the winners~ who finally record the events of this earth. [grin]

(It really is upsetting to read about a moron tortuing an animal as in this article...even a reptile, at least one with a good rep like turtles.)

[Dysart]

what is a private family doing owning an endangered animal?

Well you may own one so long as it was already in the animal trade system (I believe). The prohibition involves taking them from the wild and exporting them for commercial porpoises.

[Jaysun]

This guy brought a turtle to my Mother at work and she brought it home for my brother to keep as a pet. It turns out it was a snapping turtle. One day he was handing it off to one of his pals and it extended its neck and bit my brother on the stomach then quickly extracted itself into the shell. It stayed clamped on his stomach and we couldn’t get it off.

He was passing out because when he breathed it clamped down harder. They called an ambulance. Meanwhile he’s in a recliner and one boy is holding the turtle in the air so it wouldn’t fall over and rip the meat from my brother’s stomach. Another guy was stabbing it with a knife but it didn’t let go. Then the neighbor came in with a garden hose and started spraying it (he was a nutcase).

Anyway, my brother’s friend finally grabs a hammer and knocks a perfect hole in the shell. Then the nutcase jambs the hose into the hole and the turtle’s legs and neck came out and blew up like a balloon. It finally let go. The ambulance got there a short time later and one of the paramedics, a young girl, refused to help my brother because she was mad about the turtle being killed. The other paramedic gave him a shot and loaded him onto a gurney and took him to the hospital.

[mefistofelerevised]

If Jose “tony” is convicted hope he gets 3 years.

[Jaysun]

It’s okay to kill something as long as it’s ugly. Killing rats is fine but if you start killing squirrels you’re a sicko. Killing roaches is fine. Butterflies, sick. Go figure.

[Long Island Pete]

"He's eating like a pig,"

I would hazzard to guess he is eating like a tortoise.

[isom35]

mccoy had a similar task:

http://allyourtrekarebelongto.us/horta.jpg

[ChurtleDawg]

the guy who did this is sick. he is definetly a serial-killer in the making. most of them start by torturing and killing animals

[Jaysun]

I would hazzard to guess he is eating like a tortoise.

Don't be so reckless with your guesses. They're gifts. Save them up and give them out at parties. That's what I do.

[BuffaloJack]

“what is a private family doing owning an endangered animal?
“

Given the animal’s age, he may have been acquired by the family before being put on the endangered species list.

[Dysart]

Ouch! That’s a gruesome tale. I’ve always had a soft spot for Turtles and Torti, but I’d probably have to draw the line at Snapping Turtles, or at least admire them from a great distance.

[rabscuttle385]

3 years...with a snapping turtle!

[Jaysun]

3 years...with a snapping turtle!

Huh? You've had a snapping turtle for 3 years? A snapping turtle held you hostage for 3 years? What?

[ozzymandus]

If you’re dumb enough to play with a snapping turtle, you deserve what you get. I hope the jerk who tortured this turtle gets real jail time.