There’s a hopefully happy end to this story: 50 turtles discovered in a Burger King parking lot were quickly adopted from Richmond Animal Care And Control. A vendor selling them there was doing so illegally, because they were technically too young to be purchased.
As WWBT in Richmond reports, “RACC outreach coordinator Robin Young said the baby red-eared slider turtles were seized after they got a tip earlier this week about the man trying to sell the turtles from the Burger King parking lot on East Belt Boulevard.” The turtles were only three months old and under four inches, so “We seized these turtles mainly because they’re too young to be sold,” said Young.
While certainly Animal Care And Control must appreciate this generous outpouring, hopefully all of those new turtle owners recognize that their new pet may outlive them, lasting as long as 50 years. And if they tire of providing the turtle wet and dry habitats and heat lamps and feeding them, the new owners also had to sign a paper that they would never release these turtles into the wild, as red eared slider turtles are an invasive species. And we all remember what happened went Bart went to Australia on The Simpsons: