SOUTH WALES ECHO (Cardiff, UK) 10 June 05 Police hunt for pets 'stolen to order' (David James)
The 'theft to order' of two endangered tortoises worth more than £1,000 has sparked a police investigation.
Grandmother Pamela Coles, 61, of Broadwell Close, St Mellons, Cardiff, woke to find the wooden hut built for her beloved Humphrey and Toto had vanished - with the pets inside.
Experts say the rare 30-year-old Herman tortoises were almost certainly stolen to order as their age means they can breed and are valuable.
The thieves could face up to seven years in jail because the animals, which can live to 100 years old, are on the endangered species list.
Ann Ovenstone, who runs the International Tortoise Association in South Road, Sully, said she heard reports of endangered tortoises being stolen almost weekly.
'It is very common. They are stolen to order,' she said.
Humphrey and Toto belong to Pamela's daughter Jane Williams, 41, who bought the animals when she was just 10 years old.
Although Jane, a mum of five, now lives in Greenway Road, Rumney, her pets stayed in St Mellons with her mum.
Jane, a Texaco sales assistant, said: 'They are wonderful pets. You hardly have to do anything for them. We all loved them to bits.'
It is illegal to buy or sell endangered tortoises without papers but 30 years ago Jane said she bought one at the Maelfa shopping centre in Llanedeyrn and the other in Caerphilly.
Legally-bred tortoises can be bought from the International Tortoise Association in Sully, with advice on how to look after them.
A spokesman for South Wales Police said the incident had been reported and was being investigated.
Anyone with information on the tortoises is asked to contact Rumney police station on 02922 222 111.
Police hunt for pets 'stolen to order'