Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor:  Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report 

This is the moment a man trying to smuggle his beloved pet tortoises onto a train attempts to conceal them by strapping them to his waist with tape.

Video Credit: AsiaWire

Traveller Mr Yang was stopped at Shenzhen East Railway Station, which is in Guangdong Province in China, where live animals are not permitted on board.

Footage from the train station shows him being singled out by security officers on 14th November as he passes through a security checkpoint leading to the platforms.

The uniformed officers lift his jacket to find plastic bags containing the animals strapped to his back.

The pet owner tried to smuggle three of his pet tortoises – two small and one large – and had worn an extra item of clothing to conceal them, the railway station said.

Officer Liu Yiwen recalled: “A security officer felt a hard object on his back. Upon inspection we found a large tortoise strapped to his back with tape.”

Mr Yang explained that he worked alone in Shenzhen for many years and was now returning to his hometown in northern Hebei Province.

With no one around to feed his pets, he feared they would starve to death, so he tried to smuggle them onto his train.

He said he was “very attached” to the animals and did not wish to give them away.

The authorities explained that he was not allowed to carry live animals on board, and that his pets would need to be shipped as freight with a quarantine certificate.

Mr Yang reportedly left the station afterwards, but did not say what he planned to do with his tortoises.

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