PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — A week after a pet African spurred tortoise was lost and found in North Port, another one has gone missing, but this time in Punta Gorda.
Shauna Corocoran said she rescued her tortoise Shelly after she was found wandering in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in 2022.
Find out how another African spurred tortoise made an escape in Charlotte County:
“I tried to find her original owner when I found her through tortoise websites, lost animal websites and I could never find her owner,” said Corcoran. “So, I selfishly kept her as my own.”
Since then, Corcoran said she’s spoiled Shelly with love, and snacks.
“She’s very attached to us, she knows we feed her and she will automatically chase us down when we go outside,” said Corcoran.
Corcoran said she’s been living with a family member on Sweden Boulevard in the Ranchettes neighborhood while she builds a house in Punta Gorda.
She had begun moving into her new house, and had even planted hibiscus there — one of Shelly’s favorite snacks — but had not yet moved Shelly to the new house.
On Feb. 19, Corcoran said a family member left a gate open and Shelly made her slow, but steady escape onto the dirt roads in the rural neighborhood.
A week earlier, on Valentine's Day, Fox 4 reported that a tortoise of the same species named Ninja had escaped his enclosure. He wandered his neighborhood for several days before being found by a neighbor three miles away.
Corocoran said Shelly’s situation is more serious. She said as cool weather moves in, she fears the cold-blooded Shelly might get stuck somewhere without a warm place to hide.
“I’m just really distraught,” Corcoran said through tears. “She’s part of the family.”
Corcoran is offering a reward to anyone who finds Shelly, and if anybody spots her to please call her at 941-268-1805.
