Putnam County, Florida - Animal welfare workers at Florida's Wildest Animal Rescue said they had no idea they were dealing with a runaway when they rescued a slow-moving tortoise in this "truly unbelievable story."

Putnam County police picked up a lost sulcata tortoise wandering around town on Saturday and brought the animal, which was a little worse for wear, to Florida's Wildest Animal Rescue.

The animal rescuers immediately launched a social media campaign and amazingly, they found the tortoise's owners.

Per the organization's Facebook post, the tortoise got out of her owner's yard back in April 2020, and the pet owners have been looking for her ever since. She manged to get a whopping five miles away from where she went missing.

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Gabby from Florida's Wildest Animal Rescue was able to confirm that it was the family's missing pet by comparing pictures of the animal's unique shell to the tortoise at the shelter.

"As soon as I saw her photo I knew I had her tortoise," Gabby told Newsweek. "I compared identifiable features, like holes in the shell from an old dog bite when she was small, and some other marks."

"A truly unbelievable story, it just goes to show you to never give up hope," the animal shelter said in their post. "What a happy ending! We are so happy we were able to assist in reuniting her with her family!"

Sulcata tortoises might be slow-moving, but these smart animals are sneaky, according to Florida's Wildest Animal Rescue.

"They're escape artists," Gabby shared. "They burrow under fences, they're also so strong they even have the potential to knock them down."

Believeit or not, Sulcata tortoises, which are also known as African-spurred tortoises, are actually popular pets in the US.

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"The condition of the tortoise isn't great, she has a little shell rot on her shell, and a lot of the spurs on her legs are missing," Gabby said.

The animal rescuer recommended that she be taken to the vet for a check-up after three years in the wild.

Animal rescuers and the tortoise's family are thrilled this missing creature case ended happily.