Indiana to Torture Turtles This Weekend

Update: Sadly, the 2011 event moved forward, but with your help, we will continue to campaign against this event in the future. Local officials—some of whom were sympathetic to the turtles’ plight—felt the heat, and we hope that they will do the right thing and ensure that this cruel event will meet its demise.

We thought we’d heard it all until we heard about “Snapperfest,” scheduled for this Saturday, August 20, in Ohio County, Indiana. During this vile, annual turtle torturefest, “competitors” grab wild-caught snapping turtles by their tails and slam them to the ground. They yank the turtles’ heads out of their shells and swing the turtles around until they can wrap their hands around the animals’ necks.

As you can imagine, in addition to enduring the stress of this horrifying ordeal, the turtles can be seriously injured and even killed. Being cold-blooded animals, it takes a long time for them to die. 

Local officials have not been receptive to PETA’s request that they step in and call off the turtle torture. So we are asking you to e-mail officials and the campground where Snapperfest is to be held and politely ask them to cancel this barbaric event.

Written by Michelle Sherrow