Photo: Caters News / ZUMA Press
A red-footed tortoise was found -- minus one of her four feet! Joke #1! -- in the wild in San Mateo County, California and brought into the local ASPCA. Vets decided the least intrusive/most economical/flat-out hilarious-est way to help the three-legged lass was to strap her atop the undercarriage of a toy Tonka truck. The result: a surprisingly huge amount of mobility for the lil' critter, who now pushes off with her back legs for power and uses her one front foot for steering... though she's probably a little bit shell-shocked by the change... get it? Joke #2!
Nicknamed Tonka, natch, the tortoise was adopted by a local surfer dude who brags that Tonka likes going for walks and snacking on tomatoes from his garden. [Insert Joke #3, re: all the fixings for turtle soup, here.]
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We have a couple of ponds on our property and regularly see a large snapping turtle (mean bugger too!) hobbling between the two. One hind leg is missing and the shell above it is clearly damaged though healed; perhaps a run-in with the gators in the area. No wheels needed and what it lacks in grace it seems to make up for in speed.
I think I would rather run into a gator than a snapping turtle. Well, maybe not, gators are faster and have teeth, and would actually dine on my carcass, but yeah...they are mean suckers and will strike at anything indiscriminantly.
hey strightbizman, i have 6 chihuahua's, 1 cat, and a turtle (with 4 legs) i would like to find out about insurance for only one of my dogs, he has a heart murmur, a bad leg and he is over wieght. the rest of them are in good shape. i love all my babies.
I want to congratulate whoever it was that thought this up. I think it is great that there are people that acrually care about our animals.
They treat them with care and that is what the world need more of!
Some folks in and around Muskegon , MI got REALLY upset when a "turtle fence" was constructed by MDOT to keep migrating turtles fom getting squashed on the 3-4 lane highway north of town. I'm glad to see someone else cares for their safety. Many a time have I stopped and helped those slow-movers along their way. ---- But also, many a time have I seen cars swerve to intentionally hit them. Some people are just two legged animals with morals at all.
I have pet insurance through my vet. It only costs me $19.95 a month for one cat. In a way, it is like a savings account. She gets her yearly check-up for "free", plus shots, at no added extra cost. If she did get sick in one form or another, I'm quite sure the expense would be lessened through the insurance provided for her. It is a good idea to insure your pets as well as yourself.
Great idea! Glad to see people taking good care of their pets.
Maybe they could get him set of wheels that turn easily though, instead of the ones that just go back and forth? If a tpy dtore does not have them a hobby shop does. Just a thought. Take care all.
Um...sorry for the typos...I meant a toy stoy. Must get sleep soon...lol.
Dangit...a toy store...good night all.
I live out in the country and, I'm sorry to say, that I see quite a few animals dead on the road--rabbits,deer, turtles,dogs, cats, etc.
My heart aches for them because some fool went out of his/her way to run them over. I slow down any time I see an animal trying to cross the road, some times I can chase them across or pick them up and help them across.
My wish is I hope that person is in the animals shoes when they think about hitting the animal then, Let's see what happens
Not the first vet to do this. Philadelphia Zoo has a Galopogas turtle who broke someone and has been on a similiar invention for many many years.
50 years ago my pet tortoise got out and was run over by a neighbor's car. His shell was badly cracked and his back legs were broken. We took "Turtie" to a local West Los Angeles Veterinarian who also happened to make surf boards. So using what he had on hand he patched and repaired his shell, apologizing for its brown color. This allowed him to live at least another 10 healthy years (until he ran away again) propelling himself using his front legs. It was an interesting sight to see.
How wonderful that they chose to save this poor tortoise instead of euthanizing her which would have been the easy choice! I hope she lives many fun years tooling around. God bless these vets and the surfer!
Hey barb brown, pet insurance is great if you get it early in life. In most cases, the insurance won't cover things that have already been diagnosed in your pet like heart problems, thyroid problems, ect. If you're thinking of signing up, make sure you call the company and ask if they are willing to cover something thats already been diagnosed in your pet :)
We have far too many wild animals. Ducks, Geese, and Sea Gulls are creating a real problem, so are some of the furry animals. We need a lot more predators to eat up some of these. Too many people thinkof animals like they were some sort of Disney Cartoon Movie. They are not Bambi, reduce the numbers.
Turtles are good eating. Damn good!
I've "rescued" quite a few turtles crossing the roads hear my home. I keep a pair of leather gloves in my car just for this purpose. They have saved my hands on several occasions. Some rather small turtles have some serious claws and amazing reach.
Hey Bob.....you are an idiot. There aren't too many creatures out there - too many humans and most of the ones we could do without are just like you.
Bob, you are an ignorant idiot. What the world really needs is less stupid humans...like you! Do the rest of us intelligent, compassionate humans a big favor and go stand in the middle of a busy freeway. Thanks!
dingdong has the right name