Action Alert: Valley Fair Mall

January 12, 2004

I was in the Valley Fair Mall today and I saw a kiosk titled " Krabby

World " with a bunch of crabs and turtles for sale. The tank of baby

turtles was at floor level with the lid off and a small crowd of

children was playing with them. I asked the man working there what

kind of turtles they were and he said " red eared sliders " a type of

turtle that is cheap, often costing less than 7$, but very expensive

and time consuming to take care of. I asked him if he had any

information on how to take care of them and he said " no, not for the

turtles. " When I asked him what his instructions were for taking

care of them he said " Keep them in this pot. (pointing to a pot

little smaller than a dinner plate) and change their water every

other day. " He said this in a tone directed at calming my worries

and trying to secure a sale.

Red Eared Sliders actually require MUCH more equipment and care. I

think a 20 gal tank for one turtle, with heaters, a filter and

a `basking spot' is approaching proper care. At this point all

those turtles are doomed to death and disease due to negligence.

Even if someone who bought a 7$ turtle from this shop was willing to

buy the 200$ in accessories to take proper care of it, they would

never even know they had to thanks to " Mr. Salesmen " . I was so mad

I just left. At this point I don't really know what to do. I

cringe at the though of 30 baby turtles going home today to live in

their unheated clay pot until shell rot or hypothermia overtake

them.

If you feel like contacting Valley Fair Mall here's a way to contact

them.

centre_id=valleyfair

If any of you are interested in an organized effort feel free to

contact me.

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