Thief makes quick getaway with pet tortoise, Shelley
OAP DEVASTATED AFTER BELOVED COMPANION IS STOLEN
A PENSIONER is desperate to be reunited with his sole companion – his tortoise.
Ronnie Henshaw, a retired engineer from Gorton, said he’s grieving the loss of Shelley, who he had for 26 years, after it was stolen.
The widower, 77, believes someone entered his front garden, on Chapman Street, on Monday and stole his beloved pet.
He said: “She was a big tortoise, she wouldn’t have got through the gate. I just couldn’t believe somebody would do that.
“She’s a red-footed tortoise, which is the most compassionate tortoise you can buy.
“They are from South America. You can’t actually buy them nowadays, but you could when I bought her in 1992.
“I’m kind of grieving. I’m 77 and thought the tortoise would outlive me. I planned to leave it to the Tortoise Trust.
“Shelley was mischievous and stubborn. When she was hungry she would stand in front of the fridge. When she was cold she would come over and bite my foot and then go and stand next to the gas fire and stare at me.
“She’d sit and watch telly with me in the evening, she’d watch old films. Anything I put on – her head would move from side to side watching it.
“If I was eating my dinner on the coffee table, I would notice it would start to move.
“I’d look down and Shelley would be pushing it.”
Ronnie bought Shelley for his late wife Arlene to cheer her up after a stint in hospital. Arlene Shelley (inset) which he believes was stolen from his front garden passed away in 1999, and his daughters moved to New Zealand and Cyprus respectively, but Shelley has always remained by his side.
Ronnie said he is getting good support from his family and has ‘accepted’ that he may never see Shelley again.
He added: “My only hope is that whoever has her is looking out for her.”
His daughter Lyndsay, who lives in New Zealand, said: “My dad is just devastated.
“She’s such a quirky tortoise and, living alone, she’s the only company my dad had really.
“I think it’s all the worse because it was my mum’s, and now she’s no longer with us.
“My dad feels connection with broken.” it’s another her that’s