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Don’t Lift the U.S. Ban on the Sale of Small Turtles
  1. Signatures
    426 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. Director, FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (Bernadette Dunham)
  2. Created By
    Laura Goldman
    Los Angeles, CA
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates
How We Won

Oct 21, 2010

More than 400 Change.org community members spoke out against the increasing pressure from Louisiana turtle farmers to lift the ban on baby turtles, and the FDA, Center for Veterinary Medicine, has announced that they plan to stand firm. In response to the petition emails, they stated that: "The U.S federal law preventing the sale of turtles smaller than 4 inches long remains in effect. We appreciate your concern and plan to continue enforcing the 1975 turtle ban."

 

Update: More than 400 people sent a message to the FDA, asking that the 1975 ban on the U.S. sale of turtles smaller than 4 inches continue to be enforced. The FDA has confirmed that the ban will remain in place.

In 1975, the FDA banned the U.S. sale of turtles smaller than 4 inches because they posed a severe risk of salmonella. The FDA said the ban prevented 100,000 children from becoming infected each year.

Louisiana turtle farmers have filed a federal lawsuit against the FDA, demanding that the ban be removed since it is destroying their industry. They say that nowadays the turtles are raised in a sterile environment, and a cleansing process removes almost 99 percent of the salmonella. But the FDA says even clean baby turtles can continue to shed the bacteria throughout their lives, wreaking havoc on humans and wildlife.

Once the tiny, adorable red-eared slider turtles grow into foot-long, aggressive adults (they rarely live that long due to manhandling and neglect), they are frequently dumped by their owners. They die due to starvation or extreme dehydration, or are killed by predators. If they manage to survive, these turtles, labeled "clearly invasive" by the U.S. Geological Society, become a major threat to native species such as California's western pond turtles.

Although it's illegal to sell them, thousands of these turtles are still being purchased through the black market and then abandoned. What's the point of lifting the ban and opening the floodgates for thousands of more unwanted turtles?

Tell the FDA to continue banning the sale of small turtles in the U.S.

Recent Signatures

Please Don’t Lift the Ban on the Sale of Small Turtles

Dear Dr. Dunham,

I urge the FDA not to lift its 1975 ban on the U.S. sale of turtles smaller than 4 inches long.

While the Independent Turtle Farmers of Louisiana may argue that nowadays their cleansing process removes 99 percent of the salmonella, the fact is the turtles can continue to shed the bacteria throughout their lives, wreaking havoc on humans and wildlife.

Although it’s illegal, baby red-eared slider turtles are still being purchased through the black market, many of them only to eventually be dumped by their owners once -- and if -- they grow to adulthood.

Along with the salmonella issue, the U.S. Geological Society says the abandoned turtles are clearly invasive and a threat to other species, such as California’s western pond turtles.

Please don’t lift the ban only to open the floodgates for thousands of more unwanted turtles.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

[Your name]

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