ROME (AFP) - An Italian woman who took her pizza-sized turtle out for a walk has been fined €400 (S$620) by the Roman police for breaking strict coronavirus confinement rules.

Italians need a justifiable reason to be out on the street in the middle of a pandemic that has officially claimed more than 20,000 lives in the Mediterranean country since February.

Taking your dog out for a walk is viewed as a good enough reason to leave your home.

But it seems taking your turtle out, for one thing, is not.

The Roman police said "the 60-year-old woman was caught outside her home without a justifiable reason" and fined.

"The woman was walking with a turtle," the police statement said.

Roman police spokesman Nunzio Carbone told AFP that the woman was fined €400 because it was "not a justifiable excuse".

Italian authorities reported issuing a record 16,545 fines on Easter Monday, a national holiday in the largely Catholic country.

Another 13,756 fines were issue on Sunday.

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Italians have been joking on social media about renting out their dogs to anyone who was going stir crazy and needed a good excuse to go out.

Mr Carbone said the turtle was "as big as a pizza" but not wearing a leash.