‘An incredibly dangerous situation’: Turtle abandoned at Vaughan reptile zoo

A Florida snapping turtle left in the Reptilia Vaughan parking lot. (Reptilia Vaughan)

Reptilia Vaughan is urging the public not to leave unwanted animals at their facility, after a Florida snapping turtle was abandoned outside the reptile zoo and education centre on Friday.

Spokesperson Ashley Maika told CP24.com that staff noticed a “suspicious looking container” in the zoo’s parking lot just before opening hours.

Inside was a turtle, about the size of a dinner plate. The container the creature was left in included a handwritten note that stated his name was Gilberto.

The zoo currently has him placed in a temporary setup at the facility and have notified Provincial Animal Welfare Services, which handles cases of abandonment, neglect, abuse and mistreatment of animals.

While Reptilia does sometimes take creatures that need rehoming, they are currently at capacity. It’s the second time this year that reptiles have been abandoned at their facilities. In March, three ball pythons in a container were left outside of Reptilia’s Whitby location.

Maika said abandoning these types of animals without protection from the elements is extremely unsafe for them.

“It’s an incredibly dangerous situation pretty much any time of the year,” she said. “We try and advocate that this is not the right decision. I know sometimes people are desperate to rehome their animals, but it puts them in harm’s way when they are waiting to be found.”

She added that Reptilia gets weekly calls from people looking to rehome Florida snapping turtles and other aquatic turtles, which require a lot of space and care.

“Unfortunately, those ones seem to be in high demand,” she said. “They do need a huge amount of space, and they have very long lifespans.”

Maika said when people reach out looking to rehome their reptiles, the zoo provides them with a list of organizations and rescues that can possibly help if they’re not able to.

“We do advocate… (not to) release them outdoors because this is unfortunately (something) that we have seen people try and do before and it isn’t a very good ending for that animal.”