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ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION (Georgia) 03 September 08 Turtle collector sues to get confiscated reptiles back (Andria Simmons)
State and federal wildlife enforcement officers seized about 500 rare and endangered map turtles belonging to Santhuff after a joint investigation in 2005. A Gwinnett County jury found Santhuff not guilty of criminal charges related to his possession of the turtles in February, but the state has not returned his beloved reptiles.
“They’ve indicated they are unwilling to give any of the turtles back,” said Santhuff’s lawyer, Steve Wasley.
A spokesperson for the state attorney general’s office could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Santhuff also has lawsuits pending in federal court against the agents who seized his prized collection: Gary Phillips, a special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Michael Bloxon, a wildlife enforcement officer in Alabama; and Steve Seitz, a Georgia wildlife enforcement officer.
About 200 of the turtles have died in the state’s custody since they were taken from Santhuff’s home in Lawrenceville, a friend of Santhuff’s said. Most of the remainder of Santhuff’s menagerie is being kept at the Savannah River Ecology Lab near Aiken, S.C., and a few are being housed at Zoo Atlanta.
Each turtle is worth between $100 and $1,000, said Robert D’Agostino, a law professor and former dean at John Marshall Law School in Atlanta. D’Agostino, a longtime friend of Santhuff who is a fellow turtle aficionado, is acting as a consultant for the defense.
“Some of those turtles are irreplaceable,” D’Agostino said. “He had gotten them before they became protected; some as gifts and some he raised as hatchlings.”
D’Agostino said about 350 of the 500 confiscated turtles were not protected species anywhere in the United States.
The government also has not returned many of Santhuff’s personal papers collected as part of its criminal investigation, including vacation pictures, scientific notes and logs, D’Agostino said.
Santuff’s lawyers say they plan to file a separate lawsuit in coming weeks seeking $1 million from the state to compensate for the seized property.
Turtle collector sues to get confiscated reptiles back

thats cool the "ENTIRE" hobby should get behind this story. all it will take is one good case to expose these gov.agencies/personel that wish to end everyones right to keep reptiles. it is simply ludacris that seized reptiles are ruthlessly and inhumanely killed through ignorance of how to keep them by the very agencies that have been appointed to protect them! and this is not the only case many an exotic reptile has lost its life when seized!!!
the public needs to know this fact.
and come'on! what about our rights???!!!
my hope is this man gets his stuff & remaining turtles back and is compensated for the ones the "wildlife officials" confiscted and then promptly killed. and that it is publically stated that these officials made a big mistake resulting in deaths to beloved pets not to mention a COMPLETE waste of funding, time,& resources then for them to be fired and publically flogged.
hey i can dream...
ok,ok, climbing off the soapbox now,,,,,,,,,,,,thomas davis
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Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com

It's criminal, literally, the way government bureaucrats trample our rights -- in the name of what, I don't know.
Our government has grown tremendously in recent years. America is beginning to look like every other tin-horn Totalitarian State, where the only job with benefits and security is a job supporting and protecting the Government, the Establishment, the Status Quo.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

I've spent the last 20 yrs with my tortoises.They started out to be hard just to keep alive in captivity.Now Ive got F2's and there are people growing them up all over the USA.In their native range they are being exploited at an unsubstainable rate.NO ONE is taking mine away unless its over my dead body.Vic Morgan. Defying Destiny of Manouria.Grant free, private "owned" land, one man,one day at a time for 20yrs