Seal makes itself at home in St. Pete

An ordinary apartment in the Russian city of St. Petersburg has become home to a baby seal, found on the banks of the Gulf of Finland. Local fishermen brought it to the vet, who then decided to take the animal home.

Vyacheslav Alekseyev and his wife Elena, who gave shelter to the whitecoat they named Hitto two and months ago, say it can live in their small flat in St. Petersburg forever. But the problem with the Alekseyev's apartment is that it has only one bathroom and the seal spends most of the time there. So the couple has to lure the animal out with food if they want to take a quick shower.

But Elena and Slava don't complain. Two months ago they did everything possible to save the animals life and now it's become a part of their family.

“When we took her, she couldn't even eat a substitute of mother's milk. We even had to use force to pour it into her mouth,” says Slava.

In April, when it was rather cold in St. Petersburg, they kept the windows open for the seal, constantly catching cold themselves.

And now like any baby, Hitto is growing up and gaining weight and the tub is becoming too small for the seal.

The Alekseyevs know that they can't keep a seal forever so they started preparing him to face all the difficulties of life in free waters. They say that they will set it free in September.