11/08/2009 - Tortoise thieves shut down business
The theft of Zeus, the seven-stone spurred tortoise, was not exactly a bolt from the blue for Cornwall sanctuary owner Joy Bloor.
It follows a string of raids at The Tortoise Garden in Sticker that includes the loss of endangered marginates, leopards, spurs, redfoots and yellowfoots.
But expected or not, it was the final straw, and a despairing Joy is now selling up after 11 years looking after her rare and valuable - and disappearing - charges.
What has made it worse, she says, is the suspicion that in this latest raid, children may have been dropped over the fence to help the thieves break in.
Zeus and 20 smaller companions were taken overnight, while five others were probably taken by ruthless collectors mingling with the genuine visitors.
In another raid at the end of June, seven baby tortoises - one of which was Banjo, a rare leopard tortoise - where taken by another bogus tourist.
Now, as staff warn that the tortoises may die if they are not properly looked after, a miserable Joy is getting ready to put her home and business on the market.
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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