Other Turtle Discussion :: RES Abuse @ CHINA TOWN (Los Angeles)

[H15A5H1]

my girlfriend and i just came back from Chinatown (los angeles) and would like to share with you these pictures we took of a pet store named Liberty Aquarium. Located between Broadway and Ord.

There are several RES thrown into a tank that is too small for them with way too little water, no basking area, and no basking lights. They are so crammed in the enclosure that it is almost impossible for them to move around. On our closer inspection, it appears that many of them are sick or dead while being stepped on by other RES.

Here are the pictures...













Chinatown, as many may know, has a HUGE problem in the selling of baby RES. You can find street vendors at practically every corner with a tiny plastic box with 2 baby RES in cold water only up to the mouth of the turtle. They sell for 6$ for the setup and turtles. This is a problem that i believe needs to be addressed and taken care of. It has been happening for several years now, and NOTHING has been done.

[flutterby]

Have you called the humane society or you could try the California Fish and Game Commision.

[Jessica313]

that is HORRIBLE. it breaks my heart. if i were you, i would DEF. report them!!!!

[rawrbaby]

That is soo terrible! I would report them too. It's sick what people do. That is ahh. It breaks my heart to see those poor helpless little creatures all squished and ontop of one and other That tank is way to small for one of those turtles, let alone like 8.

[Ferd]

if i knew where those people were, id have them DEALT with (if ya know what i mean)

[steve]

Those conditions aren't much worse than what the LFS and Petlands have near me.

[grey goose]

Poor things! Look how they are struggling to get out of that filthy water.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

the pet shop by my house sickens me and is much worse than what you saw, there are about 10 adult red ear sliders in a 13 gallon rubbermaid container with water that doesnt go pass theyre heads, poor things are all crammed up in that tight little space with a couple of baby reptomin pellets floating around...the waters extremely filthy and two of the adult sliders eyes arent open,im planning on reporting them asap.

and of course every irresponsible sleazy pet shop owners shop isnt complete with a dozen hatchling RES in a little bowl with and island....

/=

[Muirner]

My ex-gf, went to China Town in NY, and they sold her 2 baby RES's (the ones in my pics) that came in this container that is no lie 8" long, 4" deep, and 5" tall or so, i use it now to keep my brine shrimp in prior to feeding.

They had probably 4-5oz of water and that's it. I'm tempted to go back to china town and tell this lady the deal, every one of the ones she had were under 4" and she had no freaking clue what they needed to survive, she just wanted the money..

Maybe i could convince her i wanted to buy 20-40 of them (i have a 1 acre pond, i think icould make up some excuse), and when i get to the supplier then i could report that.. IT seems that china town is the place where these turtles are constatntly abused.

A girl i know still has her single turtle in the tiny tank, no light or anything... Over the past 2 days i've been having her go to the store, get a tank, and some small things, she is looking into a filter, and a light. I want to adopt her turtle but i dont have room for 3 of them in my current tank, i'd need at least 100 gal. and it's already sick, that almost spells problems.

[marisa]

Unfortunately, if people buy them, it just perpetuates the cycle. More are just put out for sale.

[Jayqualin]

How dare they????? That's worse than the setup I saw in the petstore where I got Peanut!

[Boogerbutt02]

The only way these situtations are going to change is if we as turtle owners and lovers, stand up together and change the law... Please read the proposal I have written and added your comments to what you want to see added to the law... thanks

[CountryGirl68]

The problem with these Chinatown shops (at least in NYC) is that when the authorities go there to inspect, the store owners tell them they sell them for food (to be eaten - it is a delicacy in many countries). The authorities can't do anything about that because by law it is okay to sell them as food even if they are smaller than 4". The response from most store owners is that they shouldn't be held responsible for what the buyer does with them.

[steve]

From what I have seen, they hide them from the authorities that do check. It's not hard to spot who's selling them because they leave obvious clues in front of the stands/shops. Most cops don't do anything and those that do say something only tell them to put it away. Unfortunately Chinatown receives a lot of tourists, and when they are willing to pay $5 + for a turtle that probably cost 50¢ and another $5 for a stupid plastic container, then it perpetuates the cycle that Marisa speaks of. There are legitimate shops that sell live turtles for food, usually the soft shell variety, and you could probably purchase it as a pet if you wished. I've only seen adult sized turtles in those stores.

I'm sure the situation CountryGirl mentions happen as well. People claim ignorance of laws as a way of bypassing them. It's a sad situation...

[Kallistos]

I highly doubt that NYC police officers have the time to go through Chinatown measuring whether the turtles they are selling are under 4 inches. Actually I don't think they even know what a RES is, or if they even know the 4 inch law. It's never enforced. Only animals that are endangered will get any attention. RES are so abundant that the government wouldn't give a damn if a thousand of them died. Plus, Chinatown is filled with larger problems than turtles. I.E. illegal videos...