A pet terrapin has been found dumped near a canal in a Scots town.
Christopher Dodds, a media executive at Raith Rovers FC, discovered the tropical creature at around 2.15pm on Friday, January 4 in Kirkintilloch while walking to the gym.
Initially mistaking the creature for a rock at the side of the path, he says the terrapin was visibly distressed and freezing in harsh weather conditions.
Christopher told the Record: "It looked in a bad state. I'm not sure if it had been attacked by an animal or came from the nearby housing estate.
"I picked it up and it was freezing and refused to come out of its shell. Its eyes weren't very reactive and its flippers were quite limp. I carried it up to Martin's vets in Kirkintilloch. They took it inside and helped to heat him up."
He added: "Looks like he has been abandoned."
Christopher took to social media in an effort to trace the Terrapin's owner but was forced to hand the reptile to the SSPCA after no one came forward.
A Scottish SPCA spokesperson said: ‘On Friday 4 February, a member of the public handed a stray terrapin into a local vet.
‘They contacted us and one of our animal rescue officer’s picked the terrapin up. The terrapin is now being looked after at our rescue centre in Dunbartonshire.’
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