Last Chance for Turtles!

Since 1975, there’s been this kickass law that protects baby turtles from being bought and sold as pets for kids who are likely to mistreat and eventually abandon them. All well and good so far, but all of a sudden this law is facing a serious threat of being overturned from the commercial turtle lobby (no, I didn’t realize there was a commercial turtle lobby either). Turns out that selling turtles for meat is a $9.4 million industry, and some turtle-hating Louisiana farmers have banded together to pressure the federal government into legalizing the sale of baby turtles in the U.S. The bill, introduced in Congress as HR 924 and S 540, is called the Domestic Pet Turtle Market Access Act of 2007, but despite the stupid name, this irresponsible, profit-driven idea stands to cause a huge amount of suffering to animals, as well as putting unwitting purchasers of pet turtles at serious risk from salmonella poisoning (since most reptiles carry the bacteria and often pass it on to humans). Anyway, if you’re looking to give your Monday a bit more meaning by doing something positive for animals, may I suggest that you click the button below to learn more and then contact the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to ask them not to cave to this weird, shady Turtle Profiteers lobby and leave the current, perfectly sensible ban as it is.