Thailand’s SPCA funded surgery for a sea turtle who tried to become its own piggy bank.
The Thai Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on Feb. 28 donated 10,000 baht to the Royal Thai Navy to pay for an operation to the 25-year-old green turtle, which had ingested a pile of coins.
The surgery was performed March 6 by the Department of Veterinary Science at Chulalongkorn University.
Capt. Nattapong Pansophon, director of Sea Turtle Conservation Center in Sattahip, said the turtle, named Sin, was found in a Sriracha pond last June. Recently, the center discovered the turtle had abnormal swelling in its belly and, after a computerized tomography scan, found about 1,000 ingested coins in a 9,200-cu.-centimeter pack.
Despite doubling as a reptilian version of a piggy bank, the turtle still had an appetite. But it moved even more slowly than usual.
When Sin pooped out a black coin on Feb. 24, vets decided they needed to do something about the coin clog.
