By Katelyn Thomas, digital reporter CTV Montreal
Friends and family of a 15-year-old boy named Tommy are asking for the public’s help to find his therapy pet Slush, who may be hiding up in the trees near his Saint-Lin-Laurentides home.
Slush is a four-foot iguana who's been with Tommy for years now, said family friend Vanessa Gingras.
When the weather is nice, Slush basks in the sun in the family’s backyard. About four days ago, he wriggled out of his new harness when Tommy and his mother Marie-Josée ducked out of the yard for just a few minutes.
“The poor little guy,” Gingras said. “They’ve been searching day in, day out… I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Saint-Lin-Laurentides. When I say rural, (their) whole street, which is super long – there’s three houses.”
Behind the family’s home is a massive forest, where they assume the iguana may have headed when he ventured off.
“He sleeps in a bassinet, with his blankey and with a stuffed animal,” Gingras said. “Marie-Josée put his bassinet on the front walkway… Hoping that he’ll come to that.”
Gingras also said that iguanas need heat; when it gets too cold outside, they become dormant, which could make it even harder to find Slush.
“If it’s not warming up enough, he’s just going to stay still,” Gringas said. “If it’s warm enough, he will go try to find somewhere that’s a bit of open area to bask.”
People all around the world have been donating to the family so they can offer a reward to whoever finds the reptile.
“What we’re going to try to do is to arrange different search party times,” Gingras said. “So that it’s more organized.”
Gingras said Slush isn’t dangerous; he lives with two little dogs and “gets along with everybody.”
“He’s not going to attack, and we’re not asking people, if they do spot him or find him, if they’re not comfortable they don’t have to touch him,” she said.
Anyone who would like to help find Slush is being asked to contact either Marie-Josée Bouvier at 514-815-6016 or Vanessa Gingras at 514-704-9905.