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The original was posted on /r/bestofredditorupdates by /u/LucyAriaRose on 2024-09-14 04:08:48+00:00.

I am NOT the Original Poster. That is u/countrysports. He posted in r/landscaping, r/tortoise and r/JusticeForPudding.

Thanks to u/jus256 u/zandyro and u/ClaireBearFoodAffair for all recommending this post!

Do NOT comment on Original Posts. Latest update is 7 days old.

Trigger Warnings: murder of a pet; property damage

Mood Spoiler: sad but it’s bringing people together

Original Post: September 5, 2024

Came back from a weeklong vacation, and found that our backyard was sprayed with maybe a herbicide. Does anyone know what could’ve caused this, we found our tortoise dead just now. The cactus are melted and there are obvious spray marks on them.

Image description:

A yard with a large section of dead grass in a strange pattern

Relevant Comments:

Commenter: Get a ladder and look over all 3 neighboring yards to see if they were affected too. It’s not common, but explanation would be an aircraft dumping fuel. Make sure it’s isolated to you.

OOP: We did, the neighbor who we think is responsible is untouched

(to another commenter): I’m a pilot, aviation or jet fuel would burn up and evaporate before reaching the ground in this heat. Plus the spray and radius of the drop wouldn’t be so concentrated

Commenter: Chief suspect identified. Is it the same neighbor who lives on the side closest to the center of the dead grass? If so you can (and should) sue them

OOP: We will if needed, but this post has helped me press my girlfriends dad to file a police report, my girlfriend are just sad we lost the tortoise, we have a new puppy we are worried about too

Commenter: Any of your neighbour’s have beef with your tortoise? Seems like a very half assed over the fence spray that was intended to hurt something…I hate to think the worst of your neighbour’s but they are looking pretty guilty right now.

OOP: Nah we have two and they definitely wouldn’t even know they are there. Desert tortoises are very peaceful and they never leave their burrows which were behind the brick fence of their enclosure

Commenter: I’m sorry for your loss

OOP: Thank you, we just rescued her from a shelter several months ago, but our other one is doing fine so far thank goodness

Commenter: I also don’t believe dermal contact with herbicide would kill an animal, especially a tortoise with a shell and thick skin. Irritation probably, but death more than likely not. As the other commenter said probably something caustic.

Edit: You for sure should confront your neighbors about this. As long as they aren’t the type to fly off the handle

OOP: He’s denied anything but it clearly came from his yard. And he hates my girlfriends dad

Commenter: Wait wait. Like tortoise as in the reptile??!? If so, helllll no. That’s some serial killer shit. No way someone is getting away with killing a pet that is supposed to live for 80-150+ years.

OOP: Yea the tortoise was around 20 years old, perfectly fine yesterday and we found her dead just now, she definitely died because of the poison or wayever was dumped

Mini Update in Comments: 5 hours later

Thank you everyone for your support and advice, I am sorting through making a game plan to talk to my gfs dad in the morning. So far we are going to file a police report after 1. Contacting department of agriculture/health about getting a sample of what was used. 2. Game and Fish were we rescued Pudding our tortoise because it’s highly illegal to kill an endangered desert tortoise.

OOP clarifies:

50,000 dollar fine at max for killing a desert tort, I just buried her so I hope I don’t have to dig her back up

Did they talk to the neighbor:

We did he denied any involvement

Commenter: My buddy had this happen. He had the local department of agriculture come out and take soil samples. They found out that the neighbor had poisoned his trees and yard. The lawsuit is now moving forward.

OOP: That’s good to hear, thank you. Pretty damn sure this is what happened. Gonna call EPA, department of agriculture, game and fish. Anyone I can find to give Justice to Pudding

Cameras:

We have cameras coming in tomorrow, we have a 4 month old puppy, 2 other dogs and another tortoise. It’s gonna be tough but I’m gonna figure something out

To many others’ offers to help:

Im recruiting, justice for Pudding. Who’s making the shirts

Update Post 1: a few hours later

Title: Update #1 Justice for Pudding the tortoise. Up close look of damage

Here’s a better look if anyone else was curious

Image descriptions:

Image 1: a partly dead cactus that almost looks like it’s melting

Image 2: dying leaves off of a tree/bush

Image 3: blanched cactus that also looks kind of melted

Image 4: dead bush

Image 5-7: a cactus that looks like melted wax and asparagus

Relevant Comments:

Commenter: Yuck… I hope your idiot neighbors have deep pockets, cause this looks EXPENSIVE.

OOP: Just talked to game and fish about my endangered tort, they coming for their asses

Commenter: I hope you can file a civil lawsuit in addition to the criminal case that should be brought forth. Animal cruelty is heinous. What kind of tortoise was Pudding?

OOP: A Sonoran desert tortoise, heavily protected, we adopted her from game and fish

Mini Update in Comments: September 6, 2024 (about 10 hours later)

Talked to GFD last night, I’ll be in contact with an officer at some point today. And I think the insurance agent is a good idea

Update Post 2: September 6, 2024 (5 hours later)

Editor’s note: This post has been removed by the mods of landscaping, but it contained pictures of Pudding and her sister. Most likely the removal was due to the fact the post did not technically have anything to do with landscaping.

Relevant Comments:

Commenter: Justice for Pudding!! 🐢

What’s the other tortoise name? Poor thing, I bet they miss Pudding. That picture of the 2 of them breaks my heart!

OOP: Sugar! She’s doing good we are keeping her away from the grass!

Mini Update in Comments: 2 hours later

A GFD warden just came by and examined everything, he’s going to do some digging for us and once we get a soil sample and stuff done, the GFD will investigate

Mini Update in Comments: September 6, 2024 (a little over 24 hours after first post)

The police officer just left, we filed a report

Relevant Comments:

Commenter: Sorry for your loss. I do believe you contacted the wrong authorities as this looks like a civil dispute and will be settled in small court. Unless your looking to sue the manufacturer company that produced the chemicals, I would assume those contacts made will lead nowhere

OOP: We are just trying to gather as much info as possible before deciding what to do. There’s not any evidence to prove who did this. We are waiting on chemical tests. The officer said there’s not much we can do since we didnt see it happen

Update Post 3: September 7, 2024 (Next day, 2 days after OG post)

*Editor’s note: this post was also…

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