Family stunned to find their pet Joey the tortoise is actually a girl after 95 YEARS
A PET tortoise thought to be a boy for 95 years turned out to be a girl.
Joey finally came out of her
shell
at a vet's examination shortly before her death from a stomach tumour last week.
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2
Joey, who ate lettuce and strawberries, was well-known among locals in Whitwell
Credit: Supplied
The African spurred tortoise was bought from high street chain Woolworths in 1930 by Louise Dimmock, as a gift for son Alan.
Joey spent the
next
nine decades being passed down through the family — ending up with Alan's granddaughter
Lorraine
Steward.
The cabin crew trainee, 43, said: 'We always thought he was a boy until we took him to the vets to be examined before his death.
'We knew something was wrong as he wasn't taking his food.
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'He had never needed to go to the vet before and it's difficult to check the gender. They were stunned he had done so well.
'They were examining him and revealed, 'I'm led to believe he's actually a girl'.
'We couldn't believe it. Maybe he was more of a Josephine than a Joey all this time. But after knowing him as a boy for 95 years, we're not going to change now.'
Joey, who ate lettuce and strawberries, was well-known among locals in Whitwell, Herts.
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Lorraine added: 'We will all miss him greatly. He lived a simple life. He was very low maintenance and happy as anything.'
2
The pet tortoise thought to be a boy for 95 years turned out to be a girl
Credit: Supplied
Giant tortoise found again after it was believed to be extinct for a century
21 PMs AND NINE POPES
OVER her 95 years Joey never strayed any further than her home village, even surviving a German shell landing in the garden during World War Two.
She also lived through:
Twenty-one prime ministers.
Five monarchs, stretching back to George V, left.
Sixteen Presidents of the US.
Nine popes.
World War Two.
Twenty-one England football managers — and one World Cup victory.
And 22 Olympics.
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From its inception in 1949 to its closure in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall, 116 bombs were detonated in the atmosphere, while 240 exploded underground. A law created in 1992 meant victims could apply for a "radiation passport", which confirmed their exposure to the fallout and qualified them for certain benefits . Each person who had their application approved was given a little beige book with a big blue mushroom cloud on its front cover. Those holding their own document could then receive things like monthly compensation cash and longer holidays . This system was said to have worked in its initial phases. Advertisement But these days, the scheme is ineffective, according to Maira. She is now part of a renewed push to improve compensation and bring real justice to the lives of many who have been impacted. Maira said: "The law that was passed in 1992 is effectively defunct today, and its current provisions are discriminatory." 14 Observation tower ruins at the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan Credit: Getty Advertisement 14 The nuclear scientists were based in Kurchatov, named after renowned Soviet nuclear physicist Igor Kurchatov Credit: Getty The passport grants holders £30 per month in benefits - barely enough to cover current medical costs - and those who move to live in a different region are disqualified from getting the money . Many locals have reportedly found it challenging to get official recognition for their children to also obtain the document. Emphasising the importance of petitioning for better support, Maira explained: "The hardest thing for us is that we feel doomed and unprotected." Advertisement Maira also heads the human rights organisation DOM, which has also played an important role forming initiatives aimed at protecting the rights of victims of nuclear tests. She says on social media that for the last three years, the organisation has been working "to shape new ways of addressing victims, to achieve significant change, and to expand dialogue with the state and the international community." Maira has won awards for her work supporting victims of the tests and participated in UN meetings calling for the ban of nuclear weapons. She left Committee Polygon 21 earlier this month but continues to work with victims of nuclear fallout through her leading role at DOM. Advertisement It is believed that more than one million people resided in and around Semipalatinsk - but today, only a few thousand people remain. The International Day against Nuclear Tests occurs every year on August 29, the day the first bomb went off in Semipalatinsk Test Site. 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