A woman who found two abandoned terrapins in the street has branded their previous owners “vile and selfish”.
Molly Napier-Doyle said she discovered the two small turtles in a dirty margarine tub filled with water outside Sainsbury’s supermarket in Muswell Hill on Wednesday afternoon (August 29).
The terrapins appeared to have been dumped by their previous owner, as a sticker on the margarine tub read ‘free’.
Ms Napier-Doyle, who claimed the female terrapins were “freezing and malnourished” when she found them, has said that she will now organise rehoming them.
In a Facebook post about the incident, she said: “Some people are absolutely vile, I understand that reptiles aren't cheap pets, and not for the faint of heart; but it takes something particularly selfish to throw them out like this instead of surrendering them to specialists.”
Ms Napier-Doyle added that she took the two small turtles to a pet shop but they were not able to take them in.
Instead, she had to stock up on supplies and take them back to her own home.
She told Ham and High that she will be keeping the smaller turtle, which has been named Melon, while the other terrapin, called Donatella, will be homed with her partner’s family.
A RSPCA spokesperson said: “Sadly, the RSPCA sees many exotic pets which have been abandoned by their owners after they realise they're not easy to care for, or the novelty wears off.
“Abandoning a reptile or releasing unwanted exotic pets into the wild is cruel and illegal."
They added: “Trends can also pose a problem and popular films have always escalated demands for unusual pets.
"For example, when the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle film was released in the 1990s this led to a craze for buying terrapins, and there are fears this surge will be repeated following the 2023 release."
The animal charity says it does not believe either of the terrapins recovered by Ms Napier-Doyle are from an invasive species.
The RSPCA's website says that the the animals' needs are “complex”, and that deciding to get one is not something to be undertaken “on a whim”.
Ms Napier-Doyle said that her partner's family has experience with caring for reptiles.
The animal charity’s website adds that terrapins require a large tank or aquarium, or a secure outdoor pond with heating and lighting.
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