Foreword
While writing and researching this entry, I discovered that in October, 2012, there was a crackdown on the illegal sale of baby bunnies and turtles in Chinatown, Los Angeles, but I went down there to check up on them anyway. Luckily, there were no more bunnies, but at LEAST 10 establishments were STILL selling hatchlings, 5 dallah for the pair. I proceeded to carry out a successful undercover operation.
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Turtle SoupI was five when I got my first pets; a pair of turtles. They lived in a tank with little blue pebbles and a plastic palm tree. I don't remember naming them. They existed. And I was aware of their existence and was slightly responsible for their well-being. One day, per my daily duty, I brought them out to sun in their "palangana", a plastic wash basin for clothes, but alas a cartoon on TV kept me for longer than their poor turtle skins could take under the hot Costa Rican summer sun. My sister and I examined their stiff little bodies as they sank heavily to the bottom of their water basin. My mom made turtle soup for dinner that night.
That was a joke. There was no turtle soup. Omg.
It used to be very common to have turtles as pets. Remember how they'd be piled on top of each other in their aquariums at the pet store? You might still see them sold at fairs and on the streets even though the FDA passed a federal law in 1975 banning the sale of turtles and tortoises with a shell length of less than 4 inches. This was done to curb the high incidence of turtle-linked Salmonellosis in children and the immune compromised. Salmonella bacteria may be present in larger turtles as well, but apparently the diameter of the average child's mouth is 4 inches...?
www.freedigitalphotos.net
Code of Federal Regulations - Title 21
Breaking the "four-inch" law is punishable by a $1,000 fine and/or 1 year in prison for each violation. Also, the turtles in question are subject to be dispatched in a humane manner by or under the supervision of an FDA officer or employee. This is a double-edge sword, of course, because we want to stop the suppliers and vendors from selling these creatures inhumanely, but if exposed, the animals we are trying to protect could potentially be killed. Although it's a very difficult stance to take, I personally think that the lives of a few turtles in the name of the greater good and awareness is a necessary sacrifice.
As with any law, however, there are exceptions, and with exceptions, there are loopholes. Exceptions include the sale or export of turtle hatchlings and viable eggs for bona fide educational or exhibition purposes, as well as the limited sale of turtles not connected with a business. This means that a store could technically give away "free" turtles with the purchase of an aquarium, or have the customer sign a disclaimer stating that the turtle will be used for educational purposes only.
One of the Biggest Loopholes of All
In some cases, the vendor or anyone with financial interest in the turtles may appeal their euthanasia. A punctual thirty-seven years after the law was passed, Petco initiated a "turtle relinquishment program". Customers could opt to bring back the turtles they had purchased (4 inches or less). Petco would then ship them off to their own supplier, Concordia Turtle Farm in Louisiana, where they were subsequently raised, treated for salmonella, and then sold again in the U.S. and abroad. PETA slammed Petco, because they claimed many of these turtles were getting shipped to China for slaughter.
Don't Blame the Turtles
Salmonella is a naturally occurring bacteria in a turtle's digestive tract, but because they are in captivity, their enclosures perpetuate a higher risk of contamination. A good rule of thumb is to always wash your hands if you handle a turtle or a turtle's enclosure and never wash an aquarium where food is prepared.
Fortunately, this law has not only reduced the number of salmonella incidence among children, but it has also prevented the mishandling and deaths of hundreds of thousands of hatchlings. However, we still have a long way to go.
Undercover Operation
Stay tuned in my next blog for the details on how it all went down!
And the turtles, of course...all the turtles are free, as turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be. -Dr. Seuss, Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories
Sources:
www.fda.gov Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, Volume 8. 2013.
www.nbcnews.com JoNel Aleccia. Turtle take-back program aims to curb salmonella risk. 2012.
www.examiner.com Pat Harriman. Pet Turtles Can Carry Salmonella - Be Aware of the Dangers. 2012.
www.animalpeoplenews.org What Becomes of Turtles Relinquished to Petco
