Jaime Simpson, known on TikTok for sharing her life with Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and epilepsy, recently posted a video that quickly went viral. She and her partner were looking through a dumpster behind a pet store. They hoped to find items to donate to a local dog shelter.
Pet stores had told them in the past that they throw away pet items they cannot donate. So, Simpson sometimes checks for useful things for local rescues.
A Shocking Discovery
Instead of donations, they found a baby tortoise in a small container. Simpson was shocked to see it moving. "They literally threw out an animal," she said in the video. She noted the 103-degree heat and flies, highlighting the terrible conditions.
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Start Your News DetoxMost countries have laws against abandoning live animals. However, people have sometimes found neglected animals like fish, birds, and small rodents in pet store dumpsters. For example, in 2023, a woman found 20 fish and 10 shrimp alive behind a Petco in Florida. In 2021, a man rescued a live parakeet from a Petco dumpster.
A Happy Ending for the Tortoise
Simpson posted an update within 24 hours. An exotic vet identified the tortoise as a hybrid pardalis-leopard tortoise. It is a hatchling and will need a lot of care. The tortoise is eating and drinking well and is healthy.
Leopard tortoises are not native to Arizona, so they must be raised in captivity. Simpson decided to keep the tortoise. She has already spent over $1,500 of her own money on its care. She plans to turn a large dog crate into an enclosure for it. Simpson promised the tortoise would be "the most spoiled tortoise in the world."
