Bizarre News

Welsh cobbler called out for reptilian client

Monday, 15th September 2008

Written by Francesca Cookney

Trevor Adams had been in the shoe business for 30 years and running Traditional Shoe Repairs in Haverfordwest, Wales for 16 but he had certainly never seen anything like this before.

After repeated visits to the vet with no success, the owners of an 80-year-old arthritic tortoise called Ben had a flash of inspiration and took him to the cobbler.

Poor Ben, barely able to lift his back legs under the weight of his shell, he was forced to drag them behind him leaving the flesh grazed and sore. Even hibernation was potentially fatal, said his owners, because his immune system would have shut down and the infection in his feet spread to the rest of his body.

Cue Mr Adams who constructed a tiny pair of drawstring leather boots for the aged reptile, modelling them on shoes he has made in the past for police dogs so as to enable them to enter burning buildings in search of survivors.

"I was amazed but quite pleased they came to me," he told the Welsh press, "they said they knew I had a good reputation for shoe repairs but now wanted me to do something about their tortoise".

The cobbler is now working on building detachable wheels to allow the tortoise to continue to move even as his shell becomes bigger and heavier.