Other Turtle Discussion :: very sad thing

[Terryo]

Last night I went into Manhattan with my son for his college orientation. We took a break and went to Chinatown. There was an older woman sitting on the ground selling herbs, and she had a really big turtle tied up in some kind of netting so it couldn't move. I asked her how much for the turtle, and she told me $9.00. Well, we had to go back to the school to finish the orientation, and we told her we wound come back to get it. After the orientation was finished we went back and she was gone. I was so sad. I couldn't take it back to the school and had to leave it. Now it probably is someone's dinner. I don't know what kind it was, but it had a kind of pointed nose, and was definitely a water turtle of some kind. Not a slider though or a painted. It was a dark color, and at least 10 in. round. It wasn't a nice section of Chinatown. Not where tourists would go. It was like a market place with people selling fruit, and fish and other foods in the street. When he starts college next week, I am going to meet him there and we are going back to see if we can do any res cueing.
Just wanted to vent a little.

[Dr.VildGarcia]

It is good that you are tring to rescue the turtles. If you see anyone selling them under 4 inches, try to call animal control, or the precinct.

[steve]

You can go back. Most likely she saw the police and moved or hid the turtle. There are plenty of cops down there but they're usually not doing much.

[Dr.VildGarcia]

Yes that is true. Most cops don't care about animals.

[Terryo]

When you take the ferry to Manhattan, on my end, there is always someone with a little bucket of red-ear babies. Sometimes they have little "critter tanks" you can get with them. They are always about $10, with the critter tank included. Half of them have the start of shell rot. It is sickening to see.

[grey goose]

I'm surprised someone had an adult turt for sale in Chinatown, they usually eat them if they get too large. It may be hard for us on this forum to understand but there are cultures don't see things the way we do.......
If there was any kind of enforcement, it would start at our ports, not on the streets. The local cops don't care because they figure the Feds don't care. Plus they would have to confiscate the turts, call the humane society, fill out a whole bunch of paperwork..........

[steve]

I'm surprised it lived that long. I've never seen RES as a turtle of choice for food, it's usually the softshell or snapper type.

I'm not sure what you mean about the enforcement at our ports, I highly doubt these are imported. I think the cops would only warn them, thats about it... assuming they know it's against federal law.

[Safdar]

Wow, ya i agree with grey goose. I thought they eat them too when they get big. The chinatown in houston has a store that sells the turtles for food =( i know i, i was pissed, i threw a rock at the store. Okay it was just a pebble.

[Daniel3507]

There would be no way i could ever eat a turtle. that makes me so said

[Terryo]

It was not a slider or a painted. It had a very dark shell...almost black, and kind of a pointy nose. Yes it was at least 10 in. It was wrapped very tightly in a net of some kind. The poor thing couldn't even stick its foot out all the way. I know that there are many different cultures and people eat different things.....it was just so hard to look at especially when we try so hard to do everything right for out turtles. We all spend a fortune on set ups and things. It's just so hard to understand. I guess we have to learn to respect other peoples way of life. It's hard though.

[grey goose]

The turts are being shipped OUT from our ports to Asia. Sadly, it's one of the few things we (USA) still export. In all the Chinatowns (all are at port cities) they scrape a few off the top to sell to tourists.

[steve]

Gotcha. I wouldn't be surprised if these were coming straight from those farms in the south.

[rmicklit]

its sad to see the turtle disappear to become someone's dinner. but think about the poor cow that got killed to feed you a hamburger. Buddha said, "to live is to suffer" i dont like it anymore than you do but its the circle of life. its cool that you tried to save the poor guy. mad props for trying, Terryo!

on a different note, what will the cops do if they catch someone selling RES under 4 inches? will they arrest the person and confiscate the turtles? i doubt they could or would take any better care of the turtles. it seems like a real lose-lose situation for the turtles.

[grey goose]

Yup. There are several in Louisiana, Florida, a couple in Arkansas and east Texas.

[grey goose]

You will never see a Mcdonalds in India.......The chicken in America has been so genetically altered that most research technicians from the thirties (pre-WW 2) would not even recognise it as a bird. The beef is also so incredibly modified with all kinds of hormones and growth enhancement drugs, it would make the WWF proud..... As disgusting as we may think it is to eat a turtle, at least it is natural.