Over the course of about a week in June, someone drove a utility vehicle down Bog Road in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, and killed at least 15 painted turtles on purpose. Wildlife officers eventually identified Charles Puccio, 78, as the person behind it. One incident stands out: a witness watched him get out of his vehicle, pick up a nesting turtle, set her down in the road, and stomp on her. That turtle survived only because the witness rushed her to New Hampshire Turtle Rescue, where she is still recovering months later and will not be released back into the wild until spring 2027.

Puccio pleaded guilty on August 18 to misdemeanor cruelty to wild animals and two lesser violations. That is the entire legal consequence for killing more than a dozen turtles and crushing another one under his boot: modest fines, and little else.

Painted turtles need years to reach breeding age, and every nesting female killed takes her future offspring with her. New Hampshire's current wildlife cruelty laws simply do not reflect how serious, and how deliberate, this kind of harm can be.

We are calling on the New Hampshire Legislature to strengthen penalties for intentional cruelty to wildlife, so a case like this results in consequences that actually match the crime.

Sign the petition to demand tougher wildlife cruelty penalties in New Hampshire, before another animal pays the price for a law that is not taking this seriously.