A tortoise that went missing from home for a massive nine months has finally been returned – after being found a mere mile away.
Leonardo vanished last July from his home in Ulverston, Cumbria.
When his owner Rachel Etches realised he’d disappeared she kicked off a social media campaign to hunt her beloved reptile down.
And now, after nine months, the pet has been reunited with his family after being found by a dog walker, the BBC reports.
The reptile was found shuffling down a street and was taken to a pet shop, Little Beasties, where staff helped to find owner Rachael.
She told the broadcaster: ‘It was totally my fault; we were out in the garden, we’d just had our second child, I got a bit distracted and he just wandered off out of our sight.
‘He’s led a very comfortable life for 13 years under a heat lamp in my house, so we didn’t think he was going to survive the winter being out for the first time.’
She believes Leonardo may have hibernated for winter and woke up when the weather started to improve.
Leonardo went missing last July from his home in Ulverston, Cumbria
But, to the reptile’s owner’s delight, a dog walked found him
When Leonardo was returned to his owner the pet store shared the wholesome news on social media.
It read: ‘We have some fantastic news. We have found the owner of the tortoise that was handed in at the start of the week. His name is Leonardo!
‘He went missing from his home last year, so has been missing for nine months.
‘His owners searched all over for him and sadly feared the worst when he wasn’t found. They couldn’t believe it when they heard the news and were really pleased when he was found safe and healthy.’
Leonardo reportedly previously escaped a few years ago but was found again a couple of days later.
In another wholesome story, a lost cat was reunited with his owners after an incredible 900-mile journey across the US.
Rayne Beau — pronounced ‘rainbow’ — made it home to California two months after getting lost in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, during a summer camping trip with his owners.
Benny and Susanne Anguiano and their two cats arrived at Yellowstone’s Fishing Bridge RV Park on June 4 for the cats’ first trip to the forest, but soon after they arrived, Rayne Beau was startled and ran into nearby trees.
Rayne Beau made it home to California two months after getting lost in Yellowstone National Park while on a summer camping trip with his owners
Ms Anguiano believes that Rayne Beau made the long trek on his own. By the time he arrived in California his paws were beaten up and he had lost 40% of his body weight
The couple looked for him for four days, laying out his favourite treats and toys.
When they finally had to drive back to Salinas, California, on June 8, Mrs Anguiano said she was crushed but never lost hope she would find him.
‘We were entering the Nevada desert and all of a sudden I see a double rainbow. And I took a picture of it and I thought, that’s a sign. That’s a sign for our rainbow that he’s going to be OK,’ she said.
In August, the Anguianos received amazing news when a microchip company messaged them that their cat was at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Roseville, California, nearly 900 miles from Yellowstone.
He was only about 200 miles away from his home in Salinas.
A woman who first saw Rayne Beau wandering the streets of the northern California city fed him and gave him water until she trapped him on August 3 and took him to the local SPCA.
The next day, the Anguianos drove to Roseville and picked up their cat, who had lost six pounds in weight.
‘I believe truly that he made that trek mostly on his own. His paws were really beat up. Lost 40% of his body weight, had really low protein levels because of inadequate nutrition. So he was not cared for,’ Mrs Anguiano said.
