Elusive tortoise in Devon still on the run after eight days
Mr Phillips said: "She was spotted walking flat out, almost running up Weybrook Lane. A lady took a picture from her car and put it on Facebook and my daughter spotted it. We were there within half an hour looking and couldn't see any sign of her."Subsequent to that, a friend, an acquaintance of ours, old chap, said, 'oh, your tortoise, I was driving down Weybrook Lane, there was a tortoise in the road, so I stopped and I put it on the verge'."Mr Phillips added: "Where she's gone now we are not sure."The family has had nine people looking for the tortoise in verges, undergrowth and local woods, and using thermal imaging to try and spot her.
The family is becoming increasingly concerned about their beloved pet. "The obvious worst scenario is that somebody has stopped picked her up and driven off but you just don't know," Mr Phillips said. He said Shelly is about the size of a "small car wheel" and is not likely to be getting enough to eat."This time of year when they're active she'll have like a whole lettuce, couple of tomatoes, half a cucumber, watermelon and then they get a special tortoise mix as well," he said. "They would be eating pretty much whatever you put in front of them so I don't know quite how they get on out in the wild."
Anyone who spots Shelly is asked to pick her up and put her in the boot of their car or stay with her and contact the family through their social media posts, or by contacting the local police. Mr Phillips said the family would be "very happy" to pay the £200 reward to anyone who manages to return Shelly.
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