Tortoise (109) reunited with owner after almost a year on the run

He may have reached the venerable age of 109, but Toby the pet Tortoise has just been reunited with his owner after almost one year on the run.

Tortoise that went missing was found almost a year later Image by William Warby / CC BY 2.0

In fact his owner Wendy Stokes, who is 74, had more or less given up hope of ever seeing her pet again after he took advantage of an open garden gate to take off last year.

Once out on the open road he was spotted by a kindly driver who did the civic-minded thing by bringing the tortoise to an animal rescue centre in England.

MirronOnline reports that from there Toby found a new home in Margate in Kent – over 20 miles away from his previous place of residence in West Hougham.

The couple who became the animal’s new owners saw that Toby had the name ‘Stokes’ painted on his shell. There was a phone number also in white paint, but it had faded to the extent that the numbers could not be properly discerned.

Painstakingly, they rang every Stokes family in the Kent area before getting the response they sought – from a delighted Wendy.