"It was just sitting in the middle of the road," Linda Bakker of the Wildlife Rescue Association told Global News. "A member of the public came across it and was concerned."
Rescue association staff brought the turtle to Dewdney Animal Hospital where they noticed something out of the ordinary about it.
"It wasn't until it got here that we saw this orange patching on the skin and realized that what we were dealing with was actually an endangered wood turtle," Dr. Adrian Walton.
The rescuers speculated the turtle may have been kept as a pet illegally and discarded after its owners grew tired of it.
"Whoever had this animal had no clue, zero clue on how you take care of a turtle," Walton told the CBC. "The shell is consistent with metabolic bone disease and too much protein."
Walton said abandoned turtles are often euthanized after they are found because many people are unwilling to take in adult turtles.
The endangered wood turtle will be sent to a wildlife sanctuary in Ontario, but Walton encouraged turtle owners to be more thoughtful about parting with their unwanted pets by giving them to the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
