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Tortoise survives being buried under 50 tons of rubbish

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-27 10:23

Fred, the 30-year-old family pet, was recovering after he sneaked into a bin liner looking for somewhere to hibernate.

His owner Jane Deslandes picked up the rubbish sack and left it out for binmen - sending Fred on a 20-mile journey in the back of a dust cart from the family home in Margate to the landfill site at Canterbury, Kent.

Fred the tortoise was found in a landfill site 20-miles away from home after being accidentally thrown out with the rubbish.[Agencies]

Mrs Deslandes, a mother-of-six, 55, said: "It was absolutely horrendous when we realised what had happened - I knew what had happened straight away because we put the bags out in the garden before collection day.

"And it's the time of year when he's looking for nice warm places to hibernate.

"But we panicked because we didn't know where the rubbish goes so we had to phone the council to find out."

Mrs Deslandes was then given special permission by her local council to trawl through waste at the landfill site - 20 miles away.

She was issued with a high-visibility jacket by workers and embarked on a painstaking three hour search - to no avail.

She said: "We were devastated - we tried for ages but just couldn't find him.

"Eventually we had to give up and go home - I cried all the way back."

But landfill site bosses, desperate to help Mrs Deslandes, who works as a carer, continued the hunt for the tiny creature.

Finally they found him underneath a stack of smelly household waste - just minutes before the day's rubbish was due to be BURIED.

Fred - who lives on a strict diet of lettuce leaves, tomatoes and vegetables - is now munching away on his favourite food in his back garden following his discovery on Wednesday last week.

Jane added: "We were overjoyed - words can't describe how happy we were.

"We arranged straight away to go and pick him up.

"He was a bit dishevelled looking and had a couple of chips on his shell.

"But otherwise he was okay.

"We took him to the vet and they gave him a vitamin injection - they said it was a miracle."

Tortoises traditionally begin hibernating in October but it is thought Fred sought shelter early because of this year's miserable English summer.