Hooked on Help

Tri-City Tales Issue No. 31

Augustine Serna works for the Cedar Hill Parks and Recreation department, keeping the city’s public grounds trimmed and tidy. One day in April, he was cutting brush around the pond at Bradford Park when he saw a turtle, a red-eared slider, sunning himself at water’s edge. As Serna moved closer, he realized the animal was in distress, with a fishhook caught in its mouth.

Serna has a soft spot for turtles.  He doesn’t know why—maybe from growing up watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—but he’s loved them since he was a kid. He now has two pet turtles named Pumba and Bob. During his time working for the city, he’s been a one-man turtle rescue, including one he found dumped in a city trash can. The turtle he saw by the pond wasn’t the first he’d seen with a hook. But this hook was so deep, with such a large barb, Serna couldn’t remove it without hurting the animal even more. 

He picked up the scared reptile, set it in the front seat of his truck and drove to Tri-City Animal Shelter. He walked up to the front desk saying, “This is going to be one of the weirdest questions you get today. Can you help a turtle?” 

That was the day that a staff member learned all about turtle medicine. At first, staff tried to remove the hook, just as Serna had, but the turtle kept pulling his head into his shell. The staff guessed it was from the pain (one staff member said, “Turtles don’t really have the greatest facial expressions.”) Finally, staff got a veterinarian on the phone who walked them through the steps to turtle anesthesia so they could cut the hook from its mouth.

Tri-City staff named him Bradford, after the park where he was found. After his quick operation, Bradford spent the night at the shelter on a heating pad to make sure his body temperature didn’t drop after the procedure. The next day, he got a ride back home to his pond. Serna’s happy to know the little guy is okay— and that he and the shelter staff are true turtle superheroes.