Couple Dress Their Pet Tortoise In Matching Outfits For Photos, Many People Call Them Out For Animal Cruelty

There are quite a few animal superstars on the Internet. Many dogs and cats have humongous fan bases who enjoy their adventures on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. But one member of the animal kingdom rarely gets to enjoy the rays of the viral sunshine. The tortoise.

However, this can change soon. Kasey Kuchinski, 33, and Daniel Rodriguez, 33, from Sonoma, California, are coordinating their outfit ideas with their exotic pet, Ethel, a 20lb Sulcata tortoise. The trio regularly dress up and pose for photos together for their Instagram account, and their following has been growing steadily. As of this article, it's standing at 38.6K people.

Not everyone, however, appreciates Kasey and Daniel's idea of putting their pet tortoise in matching outfits. Some people are saying it's 'wrong' and 'exploiting' the tortoise.

Bored Panda spoke to Ethel's owner Kasey about these claims and she immediately put the issue to rest. "It’s really no different than putting a jacket on a dog or any other pet animals, or shoes on a baby. No, it is certainly not necessary but dang, is it funny and cute!" she said. "Ethel doesn’t mind it at all."

Kasey reassured everyone that if the tortoise showed any discomfort, the couple would abandon those pet clothes immediately. "We only have her in the outfit for the photos so all in all, about 10 minutes every two weeks! If you look through our feed, you’ll see she’s naked 99% of the time."

So let's leave offended people aside. Kasey said she's always liked the idea of having a giant tortoise as a pet. "I can probably pin the idea down to reading the 'Reptile Room' from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events."

Now, she finally has one and Ethel means everything to her. "You really couldn’t know just how much this adorable animal can capture your heart until you’ve spent a lot of time with one! Ethel is a particularly great example of her species, I think so. She’s easy to love!"

Kasey and Daniel both work full-time so they come up with ideas for the outfits throughout the week when they're free. "I usually have about 3-4 ideas stored up and I just wait for the right moment for each one. So next week, the idea is a picnic. That’s all I’ve got so far. Now, before next Friday, I’ve got to decide on a color concept... I’m thinking gingham, probably blue? Then hopefully, I’ll find something for Daniel and me to wear (this is always the hardest part)."

"Once I find at least two matching items, I’ll get a third for Ethel, either the same shirt as Daniel or the same thing as me. Then, basically I alter that garment to fit Ethel, sometimes it works better than others, sometimes if necessary I’ll just start with matching fabric for Ethel and my her DIY clothes!"

The photoshoots happen pretty quickly. The couple uses a yummy treat to get Ethel to face towards the phone they're taking the pics with. "It just sits inside a roll of duct tape on the ground, then I use a remote clicker (that you can totally see in a lot of the photos, I’m not very stealthy!). We have about 5 minutes before Ethel loses interest in the whole deal and wants to go explore!"

Afterward, they might take a quick stroll at the park or the beach while walking the tortoise in matching outfits. "It’s hilarious and so ridiculous!"