Shell shock: Tortoise, owner reunited

SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) - Here is the story of the tortoise and the mayor.

Daniel Guerrero, the animal-loving mayor of San Marcos, learned over the summer that a 40-pound tortoise had been turned over to his city's nature center after being found wandering aimlessly in Hays County.

So Guerrero, already the owner of three rescue dogs, decided to add the hard-shelled reptile that the nature center called Leonard to the brood.

Meanwhile in Buda,  Donna Grundy was posting placards and placing newspaper ads for any clues that might lead her to the whereabouts of the full-sized, 20-year-old African sulcata tortoise named John Wayne that she had raised from a hatchling only break through the fence in her backyard.

The two sides came together when Cyndi Slovak Barton, publisher of the Hays Free Press, say a photo of Mayor Guerrero with his new pet.

Greurrero, who had grown attached to Leonard and even watched as one of the dogs took rides on his back, ruefully acknowledged that Grundy was the rightful owner.

So on Tuesday, a handoff was arranged to make the reunion.

“Leonard was a great pet,” Guerrero said. “I am going to miss him.”