40oz

40oz said:

Last week, I noticed a flier posted outside of my workplace concerning a lost pet. Joe the Tortoise, with contact information with any help of where he was last seen.

Today I was walking my dog along a rather busy street and spotted something rather disturbing on the side of the road. Shell split in half, head severed, unusual intestines I'm not used to seeing (I've never dissected an amphibian before.) A certainly gruesome sight. I can tell by it's size that it's not your normal pond turtle. I think I have a duty to report it to the person who posted the flier, but I feel a little uncomfortable delivering the news.

RIP Joe the Tortoise.

Anybody have any suggestions on how I best tell this person?

Ummm don't?

"Hi, I have some bad news. I may have found your tortoise. I saw a dead tortoise on the side of <street> and it was yay big and had a long neck and pointy nose <insert description here sans gory bits>." You don't even know for sure its his. so call ASAP and just tell 'em straight prefaced with some kind of warning that you haven't any good news to tell. Good practice for sharing bad news since, well, it's only a tortoise and not the guy's only 7 year old daughter or something.

Technician said:

I carry a shovel in my trunk so I can pick them up to bring to the nearest swamp.

Our turtle populations are taking a hit. And we don't eat them like in the south.

Hmm.. not a bad idea! There was a large snapping turtle crossing the street while I was being driven to the ER so wasn't able to stop and help, otherwise I do like to stop and help when I can..