Nov 12, 2008 8:49 am US/Eastern
Turtle Attacked By Dogs Gets Treatment In S. Fla.
Turtle Was Flown From St. Croix
"Sandy" Was Attacked While Nesting
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
-
-
Micah Rogers, right, of the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital, checks the heartbeat of a hawksbill turtle named "Sandy" in Miami on Nov. 11, 2008. At left is Tom Luebke. The turtle was attacked by wild dogs last month while nesting on a St. Croix beach.
Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau
A hawksbill sea turtle that was attacked by wild dogs as she nested a month ago on a beach in St. Croix, arrived in South Florida Tuesday night and was transferred to the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital.
"She was attacked by feral dogs or maybe someone's pet they let out the door, we're not sure," Micah Rogers from the Turtle Hospital told
CBS4's Jorge Estevez. The situation was so bad, veterinarians brought her to South Florida to be treated at the world renowned Turtle Hospital in Marathon. American Airlines even provided the free flight to Miami International Airport.
"Sandy" the sea turtle weighs 170 pounds. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials discovered the injured turtle on Oct. 10 during a turtle survey in the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge. "Sandy" sustained serious injuries to her two front flippers and left rear flipper.
"If we save her life, she is a female, she will be nesting hundreds of hundreds of eggs every time she nests and if we lose her, that is how many animals we would lose," explained Rogers.
The turtle was treated at St. Croix's Island Animal Clinic, but veterinarians there decided to send "Sandy" to the Turtle Hospital, a licensed veterinary facility exclusively dedicated to treating sick and injured sea turtles.
Officials hope to eventually return "Sandy" to St. Croix.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Zoo Babies: Cuteness Unleashed
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
