By James Wood

Local pet store owner looking for tips after tortoise theft

Jun 23, 2017 | 1:44 PM

Terry Armstrong would like his tortoise back.

Armstrong, who owns a local pet store called Chaotic Xotics, posted a notice to his personal Facebook page on Thursday of this week, after a leopard tortoise was stolen from his store.

Speaking with CHAT News, Armstrong said that he had noticed the theft on Thursday morning, after returning to his shop following a power outage on Wednesday evening.

While making his rounds through the various animals in the shop, he came to the cage containing the tortoise. The small, multi-coloured reptile, which usually would be waiting to be fed in a corner of the enclosure, was nowhere to be found.

“He’s just a baby tortoise, little friendly dude who just walks around and just cares about lettuce, pretty innocent little thing,” said Armstrong.

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After looking through the tortoise’s cage to no avail, Armstrong got in contact with police, and made his post to Facebook.

“This is the first time we’ve ever had something like this happen,” said Armstrong.

Armstrong said it would have been difficult for anyone to access the cage due to the way it locked, and thought it looked like a “last-minute” decision.

“I don’t want to point blame at anybody, but I did have a lot of teenagers in that day,” said Armstrong.

“I’d put money on it, it was probably a teenager trying to show off to his friends.”

Armstrong also said the baby tortoise requires specialized care. He was concerned that whoever had taken it wouldn’t be able to keep it healthy.

“If it doesn’t have the right vitamins, it will quickly get metabolic bone disease, and those things are irreversible,” said Armstrong.

“They need special care, and that’s something we help you with at the store, but if you steal something, then you’re not going to get that knowledge.”

As for what he would want Medicine Hat residents to do, Armstrong indicated that the best thing would to get in touch with either the police or himself with tips.

“People do stupid things,” said Armstrong.

“(It) doesn’t mean they can’t come forth and say ‘Hey I did a stupid thing, and I’m sorry’ I’m a pretty easy going guy. I’m not going to say ‘you’re never allowed in my store again’ I’m just going to be ‘Thanks for returning it, if you’re going to come in again, please don’t steal from my store’.”