What about brutalized Bob?

Bob is a sulcata tortoise or African spurred tortoise, a hearty but endangered species that lives roughly 50 years in captivity and can grow to as much as 200 pounds, experts say. Bill and Dorothy Sullivan found Bob a decade ago wandering in the alley behind their house. They took him in and tried to locate his owners but couldn't. The state Department of Fish and Game told the couple the tortoise could not be returned to the wild, so they established a home for him in their backyard. They consider him family now, hand-feeding him strawberries and fondly referring to him as the "poop machine." They are thankful for his connection to their son.

Bob was more than a household pet to the Sullivans, whose 6-year-old son William is autistic and until a few years ago didn't speak to humans, communicating instead through sign language. With Bob, the little blond boy, who also has the rare neuron-genetic disorder Angelman syndrome, was a regular chatterbox. The approachable reptile opened an inexplicable window into William's inner world, and the boy would bare details of his days at school and of private life. "William was devastated and physically sick when he saw what happened to Bob," his mother said. "We call him a therapy turtle because he miraculously brings William out of his shell."

The family called the Ventura Police Department to report the missing tortoise, and within an hour had posted dozens of fliers in their west Ventura neighborhood. Sunday morning Dorothy Sullivan received a call from a man who wanted money for information on Bob's whereabouts. She refused to give him any money until he delivered her to Bob.

She finally followed the man, who never identified himself, to thick brush beyond a retaining wall behind the nearby Ventura Valley View apartments on Cedar Street. When she first saw Bob, she was relieved. But then she got closer, and she saw his shell had been stabbed and splintered. Emotional and yelling, she peppered the man with questions about what had happened. He quickly sped off on a bicycle and never returned.

Bob had lacerations on his head and legs as though someone had tried to remove him from his shell, and his dark green shell was stabbed repeatedly in a possible effort to re-create an episode of the discovery channel's Man vs. Wild cable television show, where the military-trained host kills and eats a tortoise to survive. It wasn't until she took Bob home in a small wagon that she realized he was bleeding badly from his underbelly. "This is one of the worst attacks I've ever seen," said Jeanie Vaughan, who founded and runs Turtle Dreams with her daughter Christine. Bob was initially taken to the animal rescue and rehabilitation center in Santa Barbara for treatment.

Authorities are asking for the public's help in solving the case, believed to be one of the worst incidents of animal abuse in Ventura in years and one that could bring felony charges. Police are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect or suspects who mutilated a local family's pet tortoise; contact Ventura Police at (805) 339-4394.

Bob's condition has improved immensely, but he's not out of the proverbial woods. Anyone wishing to donate can send money to Washington Mutual, P.O. Box 877, Ventura, CA 93002.
Checks should be made out to William Sullivan in care of Bob, Account No. 492-105108-5. Wire transfer can be routed to Account No. 322271627