Odd thing I saw today.

[CourtneyAndCarl]

So today, I was in the back room at Petco and I noticed a little notification thing. It was from May 2012. It said something to the effect of "Due to the recent salmonella outbreak linked to young turtles and tortoises, the Department of Health and Services is requesting that all turtles and tortoises under 4 inches in length be turned in." And then it said something about Petco taking all sizes of turtles and tortoises no questions asked from people who don't want them any more and handing them over to the government or whatever.

Just kind of struck me as odd, I never heard of the salmonella outbreak caused by shelled creatures. I wasn't on the forum then, though, so was that big news back in May and I just didn't know about it Do young tortoises cause more of a salmonella risk than big ones?

 

[Edna]

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/07...ella-outbreak-linked-to-turtles-petting-zoos/

Turtles getting salmonella because they are fed chicken guts? Interesting, but no idea how much is fact, how much is media frenzy.

 

[Mgridgaway]

It's commonly called the 4" law, and it's been around since the 70s. Back then everyone wanted a RES, and there was a outbreak of salmonella because they were often kept in poor conditions which is a great breeding ground for bacteria. If I recall correctly, they decided on 4" because kids couldn't fit the turtles in their mouth at that size (trust me, it happens more than you'd think).

That's why all turtles and tortoises sold through retail outlets have to be sold 4" or larger. Most tortoise owners skirt this (stupid, silly, unnecessary) law by stating that the tortoises are for scientific or educational purposes.

More importantly, what's happening to all those turtles and tortoises given to the government!?

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

Eww, chicken guts? Why??

---

More importantly, what's happening to all those turtles and tortoises given to the government!?

I knew about the 4 inch law but until apparently May 2012 Petco policy was to turn away anyone who wanted to give away a tortoise/turtle with a shell under 4 inches.

And I do wonder what they do with them. The optimist in me likes to think they are going to a zoo or turtle sanctuary somewhere.

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

If there is a top ten list of stupid laws this one has to be on it somewhere.

 

[AustinASU]

push over laws.....

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

I always hoped that maybe the law was made to protect the turtles and torts or something, but I guess not

 

[dmmj]

The idea of the law was to prevent kids from sticking the turtles into their mouths and help prevent salmonella, of course anyone with half an IQ point, excuses all politicians, knows that kids don't wash their hands after handling the turtles which is the main cause of disease spreading. As for what happens to the turtles and tortoises turned into the government,I imagine if they are not endangered they might be destroyed.

 

[Mgridgaway]

The idea of the law was to prevent kids from sticking the turtles into their mouths and help prevent salmonella, of course anyone with half an IQ point, excuses all politicians, knows that kids don't wash their hands after handling the turtles which is the main cause of disease spreading. As for what happens to the turtles and tortoises turned into the government,I imagine if they are not endangered they might be destroyed.

That's what I was fearing

 

[lovelyrosepetal]

I think you might be right about them being destroyed. The government doesn't really care about these animals as evidenced by the way they keep them before they get rid of them. I have seen how they keep them behind the scenes and it is not very reassuring. Talk about bad care practices at pet stores!

 

[Madkins007]

According to the law, any turtles or eggs turned in are destroyed. It sounds horrible, but it is about the only fair way to do it. How many places in the US have sanctuaries that could handle the load from this, and how do you ensure that whoever ends up with them is a.)competent, and b.)not going to profit on their own?

This is also what happens to a lot of other confiscated things and animals.

 

[wellington]

The law is old. However, I don't remember any big out break in May. I am sure they destroy them, it is the law, but it doesn't make it right. I personally am for more laws to stop the over breeding of animals, more by the "back yard breeder" so the destroying of innocent animals stop.

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

I think the lines for backyard breeders in exotics are very hard to draw. Most people who breed their tortoises even on this forum would be considered back yard breeders (literally! ) by the standards we use for dogs and cats. But I do agree that the breeding of dogs and cats should have stricter rules

I've known about the law for a long time. I first learned of it when I would go into the old exotics petstore in town when I was really young and would read the sign posted next to the cute little baby turtles that you had to have proof of being an educator to purchase one. But like I said, Petco has just recently instated a policy that says we must take in all turtles of any size, even under four inches. I assume it has something to do with that article that Edna posted.

 

[Mgridgaway]

According to the law, any turtles or eggs turned in are destroyed. It sounds horrible, but it is about the only fair way to do it. How many places in the US have sanctuaries that could handle the load from this, and how do you ensure that whoever ends up with them is a.)competent, and b.)not going to profit on their own?

This is also what happens to a lot of other confiscated things and animals.

Makes me wonder just how many tortoises are turned into petco/smart every week...

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

I can only speak for my own store, and in the 8 months I've worked there, I don't think anyone has turned in a baby turtle or tortoise. We get some Russians and Sliders occasionally that we put up for adoption. The only time we've had anything different was when someone brought in a wild painted turtle that he wanted to keep in a ten gallon tank, that I talked into letting me take to release back.

 

[Mgridgaway]

Interesting. Does this adoption also involve a fee that is mostly pure profit for the store (not chastising you at all, but it seems like something petco/smart would do)?

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

We don't require anyone to pay to drop their pets off, but we do ask an adoption fee, yeah. It's really inexpensive though, more so we don't get random people taking home animals that they can't afford. For example, I know that Jacqui actually has them now, but we had two HUGE full grown yellow bellied sliders for adoption that were ten bucks each, we would have lowered it too if someone asked. I think we also just adopted out a huge full grown bearded dragon with all supplies, including a 40 gallon tank and a whole bunch of light fixtures, for $30. It's not a huge fee, but yeah, I guess there is some profit made along the way.

 

[Atra42o]

Hmmm this is really strange... Someone found a Sulcata in their backyard (in Baltimore) and turned it into Petco where I just happened to be, buying crickets for my frogs... The guy that worked there said that he couldn't legally "sell" him to me because he was too young (still had his egg tooth) so he just gave him to me and I made a donation in his name... This was July 8th, so why didnt he say anything?

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

Hmmm this is really strange... Someone found a Sulcata in their backyard (in Baltimore) and turned it into Petco where I just happened to be, buying crickets for my frogs... The guy that worked there said that he couldn't legally "sell" him to me because he was too young (still had his egg tooth) so he just gave him to me and I made a donation in his name... This was July 8th, so why didnt he say anything?

It's definitely all up to the manager. They can make their own judgement calls.

 

[Atra42o]

It's definitely all up to the manager. They can make their own judgement calls.

Oh ok... I mean, I'm definitely not complaining lol