Anxious owner desperate to find runaway tortoise on the loose in Leeds

Herbie the pet tortoise has been missing from his Leeds home since midday on March 31.

-> Leeds student who created Woodhouse Moor bin bag dispenser rewarded with bar tab and keys to the cityWorried owner Emma Cook, aged 36, is appealing for help to find him after he escaped from her garden on Milroyd Crescent in Birstall.

She believes Herbie could have left through a hole going under the fence, which she saw him heading towards on CCTV.

Herbie is an olive-coloured Horsfield tortoise, and has a wonky back toe on his hind left leg.

Ms Cook believes 12-year-old Herbie may have burrowed during the cold snap this week, and is more likely to make a reappearance during warmer weather.

She has been scouring the nearby area, including the surrounding Howden Clough estate and around the Costcutter shop on Dudley Avenue, every day since he escaped.

Herbie cannot survive without a UV light, a heat lamp and a special diet, and Ms Cook urges anyone who finds a tortoise to pick it up and take it to the local vet.

She said tortoises are placid creatures and can move surprisingly fast, adding: “If they’re on a mission nothing’s stopping them, they’re like little bulldozers”.

If you find Herbie, contact Emma Cook on 07709610089

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