Winnipeg woman fears her pet turtle Nora was stolen

A Winnipeg woman believes her pet turtle was stolen, and is now hoping it will be returned before it's too late.

Carolyn Stanley says her red-eared slider turtle named Nora is quite the character.

"When I come in the door and I say, 'Hi Nora,' and she hears my voice and she jumps around in that tank like a two-year-old excited to see their mom," Stanley said. "She just goes crazy."

Earlier in November, Stanley said she needed to clear Nora's tank so she brought her turtle to stay at the Best West Pet Foods on Henderson Highway.

She said the tank in the store had a sign saying Nora was not for sale. However, sometime on Nov. 19, Stanley said the tank was suddenly empty.

"At first they thought maybe she escaped in the store, which I was very hopeful would have happened but I found that very unlikely," she said.

A thorough search of the store failed to find the turtle. Stanley believes someone took Nora.

Best West Pet Foods declined an on-camera interview, but told CTV News they feel horrible it happened on their premises.

Veterinarian Dr. Toni Moritz said red-eared slider turtles are also very complicated to take care of.

"They need water that's deep enough for them to swim, so twice their body length with however big they are. Huge tanks, their water needs to be heated to certain temperature, they have to have a basking spot that's a certain temperature, they need UV light," Moritz said, adding the species has a really specific diet as well.

Stanley said whoever took Nora may not realize what they got themselves into, and she's hoping they'll return the turtle.

"You can return her to any vet, to the Humane Society, to animal services. They're all aware Nora is missing and are prepared to take her in and get her home," Stanley said.

And that's all she wants – to get Nora back, no questions asked.