MIAMI, Fla. (FOX 13) - A Miami-based wildlife rescue and rehabilitation group has been working to nurse back to health two turtles that seem to have been tortured as part of some sort of ritual.
The turtles were found, bound by chains, swimming in the ocean off Miami Beach in November.
This week, the staff at the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station was able to release one of the turtles back into the wild. The second turtle, a red-eared slider, is expected to be released to the Animal Recovery Mission’s (ARM) private sanctuary.
Photos taken by Pelican Harbor Seabird Station show the condition of the turtles when they were found. Holes had been punctured through the back of each one’s shell and chains with small locks were attached.
Between the turtles, in the middle of the chain, was a bundle wrapped with twine and wire.
When rescuers opened the bundle, they found two Voodoo dolls, cinnamon sticks, and photos of two unidentified people.
The sanctuary says it contacted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. It was unclear if FWC was going to investigate, but the sanctuary said ARM was looking into tracking down the person or people responsible.
FOX 13 News reported on this story from Tampa, Florida.