My wife literally did this with a pet tortoise in her home pool and had to dive in after it. Luckily it was ok.
This is why English is such a pathetic language. Many languages have the same word for both (tortue, Schildkröte, tortuga, tartaruga...). So if you put the animal in the water and it says "Mais je suis une tortue, abruti", you can ignore it and keep your smug smile (see panel 1).
My wife literally did this with a pet tortoise in her home pool and had to dive in after it. Luckily it was ok.