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I just saw the saddest thing on TV. My daughter loves The Animal Planet on our satelite so it's on all the time. We were watching The Planets funniest animals. We saw a turtle crawling out of it's tank(not sure what kind, maybe a map) and of course the narrator was making a lot of jokes. But the sad thing was that the turtle had to be a foot long. It was huge and the tank was a 10 gallon aquarium. No wonder he could crawl out. It was obviously a reoccuring problem because the owners had fixed a big peice of foam that he could land on when he fell. So sad...

The neat thing was that my husband looked up from his computer and said "that tanks not big enough!!" Just a few days ago it was like I had to pull teeth to get him to understand why our hatchling had to have a least a ten gallon tank full of water. Maybe he has learned something afterall!

that poor turtle

Poor thing.

maby you should call up animal planet and file a complaint. then they would'nt show animals in small habitats.

They always say that when you are going to send in a video clip for the show make sure the animal is unharmed. Obviously they don't know anything about turtles and what they need for their habitats or they wouldn't have used that one.

There was something similar shown on that home makover show..I forget what the show is called. Anyway, they gutted the house, and bought a new aquarium etc for the turtle but it was way too small and had no light or anything. Some owners just don't care enough to do the research. Sad.

Ever consider writing to the producers of Animal Planet about it?

Thanks Marisa. I just emailed the Discovery Channel (who owns Animal Planet). I wouldn't have thought to do that without some encouragement from you. Basically I told them the same thing I told you all (just added a little about what the real size of the turtle's tank should have been and why it saddened me to see that turtle in poor conditions being laughed at). Now whether or not I hear anything back is another story, but it makes me feel like I've tried.

Props to you!

I thought Animal Planet was concerned with the humane treatment of animals--or don't turtles rate that?

i am glad you got the guts to email them. i hope they listen to your email.

I saw that too. I think people should plan before buying a turtle. they should do a good amount of research and get the right size tank and filter. My turts have a 125gal tank.

hey, guys. Just wanted to update you on writing the network.

I got a reply back. I'd love to share the whole thing with you but they put a confidentiality discloser at the bottom stating that I can't republish it, so I'll just post this little bit from it: "Your comments will be forwarded to our program management and executives and will be taken into consideration." And in other words they said thanks for sharing my view with them. And that it would help them in future programming.

I thought that was cool and wanted to share it with all of you.

I may be wrong, but it sounds like a brush off.

It could very well be, Stray. Because how are we supposed to know whether they are really taking it serious or not. They said that they really welcome viewers opinions because it's helpful to them. But of course they can always say that to shut you up, right?

I think it was great you got a reply. Unfortunately, no one will know if/how they'll use the info., but you did your best.

I'd be tempted to send a short email back expressing my surprise and pleasure at their response. Somehow, I'd let it be known what a loyal fan I was and nicely say that knowing their show is reputable (I hope it is anyway) they'll do their best to improve. And I'd keep a copy of their response in case you see something else that's amiss. But that's just me--I sometimes like to stir things up.