Hero of the day: This guy saved two turtles who were chained together

We suppose the following incident is what happens when a seriously terrible human is equipped with way too much time on their hands and not a sliver of a conscience. While crossing a bridge above Florida’s Miami River, Michael Oakes and his friend Peter discovered two turtles chained together in the water — but that’s not even the most horrifying part of the story. Upon further inspection, the guys discovered that the link connecting the creatures was secured by a lock and had been passed through a pair of holes that were drilled into each of the turtles’ shells (seriously, WTF kind of messed up madness is this?!).

Luckily, this tale of turtle trauma took a delightful turn after Oakes climbed down the river embankment and used a branch to pull the struggling turtles from the water. Peter captured the rescue on video. We love a good animal rescue story, so watching this unfold is clearly tugging at our heartstrings.

Look closely on the bottom right and you’ll see one turtle dragging the other into the water:

Here’s the moment Oakes pulls them to safety:

Fortunately, Oakes’ pal tosses him a knife, which he uses to separate the turtles. He then notes that one of the animals is bleeding from its wound (ugh, seeing injured animals is the worst) before setting them free to swim away unattached.

What a relief! Still, this situation just leaves us shaking our heads.

Watch the full rescue below:

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