I used to have a pet turtle when I was a child.
It ran away one day.
Yes, as odd as that sounds, it RAN AWAY. One morning it was gone and I never found it again. I was traumatized and never had pets since then. True story.
At least I now find solace in that maybe, just maybe, it spent the rest of its days testing STAX headphones somewhere...
EDIT: Its name was Gamera. I grew up watching Godzilla movies...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-UACM_8q_Q