REDHILL AND REIGATE LIFE (Horsham, UK) 10 August 06 Yobs use tortoise as football (Roland Batten)
A pet tortoise was left covered in blood with cuts to its head after youths stole it from a Bemerton Heath garden over the weekend and used it as a football.
Tommy the tortoise has been the pet of Pam Palmer and her family for more than 30 years. She described his attackers as "callous and brutal in the extreme."
Salisbury police and the RSPCA are probing the attack, which is thought to have happened either late Saturday night or during the early hours of Sunday after Tommy was taken from his pen in Mrs Palmer's garden in Hazel Close.
Mrs Palmer's 26-year-old son, Gary, noticed Tommy was missing when he came home in the early hours of Sunday.
Mrs Palmer said: "Gary noticed first that some of our garden lights had been pulled up and moved and one was lying in the hedge.
"He then saw straw across the garden and scattered down the road and checking, found Tommy had been dragged from his box and was gone.
"We spent the early hours of the morning searching for him and first thing on Sunday morning put posters up around the area.
"We put one in the window of the shop in Pinewood Way and later in the morning we had a telephone call from a woman who said she thought someone living near her had the tortoise."
Mrs Palmer said they went round to the house and noticed blood on the doorstep. They were given the tortoise, which was covered in blood and obviously injured.
Mrs Palmer said: "We have been told that some youths had been seen kicking the tortoise around as a football and that someone had rescued it and taken it in."
Mrs Palmer said they cleaned Tommy up and saw some nasty cuts on his chin and head.
"I have made an appointment to see the vet so Tommy can have a full check-up," she added.
"What those yobs did to Tommy is brutal and callous. How anyone can do such a thing is beyond me. The whole family is very upset by what has happened and I just hope the police find those responsible."
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