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An Aurora Police officer recently found Scorch on the side of the road. After close inspection, he discovered Scorch was recently struck by a car and mauled by dogs. It was evident by Scorch's damaged shell.
The officer brought Scorch to Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald, a veterinarian at the VCA Alameda East Veterinary Hospital in Aurora.
"This guy had a tremendous amount of trauma," Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald knew exactly what to do. It's something many of us wouldn't even think of.
He decided to reconstruct Scorch's shell with fiberglass. It worked perfectly.
"It's really neat because as it mends after about a year, the fiberglass will push off and he'll have a new shell," Fitzgerald said.
Once Scorch's shell was fixed, Fitzgerald had a tough time finding him a home. That is, until a girl named Stephaney Wacker stopped by.
When Stephaney heard about Scorch's story, she knew she had to add him to her family.
"He's so cool!" the high school junior said. "It's really cool how they could fix a shell with fiber glass. I never knew they could do it."
It's unclear how old Scorch is, but Fitzgerald says he could live to be 60 years old.
There are four types of turtles in Colorado, according to Fitzgerald. Scorch is a box turtle
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