Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Listen lady, or ladies, let me tell you the full story.

I'm in a foreing land, Asia of all places, a place where res's are not native and where turtles are considered fish, not reptiles. The turtles I collected I saved out of dirty rivers, despicable pet stores, and despicable owners. Some had broken shells and malnourished bodies. Others were dumped by Koreans who committed what we consider the cardinal sin.

No, I don't have a find home and a palace of a pool or pond to raise them in. No, I don't have a backyard or a big apartment to make them be more free. But I do have an ounce of care, care that was crushed by unscrupulous employers that couldn't care less about what we here consider something of value to the animal world.

No, I shouldn't raise them, you're right. The ones I had were injured and needed care. The others, maybe two, were for a hobby and self-interest. So maybe I'll just stick to two or three this time unless I come across good fortune and the means to make these animals secure.

I DON'T FEEL GUILTY either. I feel sad for them, and wished someone else here has had to face this predicament so that they could truly understand what courage and commitment it takes to continue this hobby against a world of misunderstanding, both by some hobbyists and the world at large.

Fact is, the timing was wrong and the situation, ie., the workplace, were against me in this matter. But should this stop me, or make me feel guilty? In the West res's are considered pets for life. Not so here in Asia. There are ferral turtles by the thousands, which may just prove some of the majority of hobbyists opinions about releasing res's back into the wild as fecetious. Either way, be assure I've probably done more good than harm considering half the turtles I saved would've been dead and dissolved by now. Wish I could say more, but you have to realize they are just animals too.

Good luck with your babies,

TS

You complain about bad petstores and how these turtles were
rescued by you. Then, for whatever reason you decide to dump
them. I am sorry but this makes you as bad as the petstores
they initially came from.

You made a comment about "they are only animals". With
this type of attitude I can see why you feel no remorse.
The bottom line is: Don't take in ANY pet and decide that
you cannot take the proper time to find homes and just dump
them off somewhere. You should be ashamed of yourself!

Do yourself and all pets a favor, don't have any!

Linda

I am not so sure that turtlesong missed is the one who is missing the point. Did I miss something or did he not say that he had a home and set up a pond for them and then lost his job (along with his home). So let's recap we have a guy who cares enough to take on animals that need help in a country that has little or no resources (like rescue organizations or vets to treat an animal that is considered to be no more than a source of food) living in a country were many people basically catch and eat whatever they can so as not to starve to death and he is a horrible person who should be shown no compassion because he took these turtles and released them?
Was he supposed to keep them in a suitcase while trying to get his life back on track? Did he deliberately build them a pond on his terrace in anticipation of losing his job AND his home? Likely not folks.
I am sure we have all made decisions in our lives that we would rather not have made but this was an act of desperation NOT a thoughtless act of cruelty.
This did not happen in the US so I think it is a little unfair to be so judgemental. Clearly turtlesong felt guilty about what happened and could be shown a little understanding whether or not any of us feel that what he did was wrong. Sometimes no choice is the only choice.

How many of you bought your sliders instead of adopting them? Well (apart from those who purchased mutations) would you not be considered bad for buying animals as pets instead adopting the thousands of sliders out there that are in rescues like the ones that I work with. These sliders are abused and dumped in lakes ponds sumps and people's swimming pools too -- not by people who have no where to turn and no home but by people who bought them and grew tired of them then tossed them away. So instead go purchase one and keep the RES breeders producing more that end up being sold and kept in deathbowls and abused.
Think about that.

How many of you caught your animals from the wild? I suspect there are a few of you here. Well is that right? There are plenty in captivity why deprive one it's freedom no matter how abundant they are?

I am not attempting to judge anyone with these two points. Not saying you are right or wrong. I am just saying that that there are extenuating circumstances in all things.

You don't have to like how turtlesong handled his situation but you could at least try and understand it a bit. Release a turtle here in the US (like it doesn't happen?) of course most of us here would not do so. But again we have options here.

Compassion for people is just as important as it is for animals.
You should not be so hard line about it and cut this guy some slack.

Sorry but no sympathy here. You took in wounded animals from the wild and thought to have them for a while (for your own amusement)? just to discard them in the spring? As many people on this site have stated, buying them from a Pet Store because they weren't treating them right only allows for them to get more money to do the same thing to another batch of turtles. Another point is, You were going to release the pet store animals in the spring too? Did it even once cross your mind the effect that would have on the turtle. Not to mention the environment or any other turtles that already existed in what ever happy lil place you DUMP them into? You want us to give you stories about how we would do the same thing? I would never in fact you disgust me really. You should never have taken in any animals unless you were sure you had a stable environment. As for the other turtle you now have I truly feel sorry for it, its sick and your going to take it to a vet as soon as you feel like it. For the love of the gods stop trying to save animals your only causing more damage in the end!

If your situation was so bad you should have never taken the turtles in the first place. They could not be much worse off then what you have done to them. Leaving them in a hotel, giving to strangers, and back to the "pet shops" you said were horrible. You should NEVER be allowed to own pets again.

After taking the opportunity to read all of the posts thoroughly, I submit the following advice to Turtlesong: stop.

Stop trying to "rescue" animals from the wild...it's called the wild for a reason...let nature take its course, whether you're in Asia or not, whether you like it or not. Besides, with all of your personal crisis you have had to abandon the turtles you tried to rescue...is this really a "rescue"? No. And a turtle that has been taken from the wild should never be re-released due to disease issues. That's common sense and any regular on this forum would agree.

Stop using Asia as an excuse. You are painting an entire continent into an uncivilized land of death. Your comments in the post below about the state of life and death in Asia were melodramatic, and pathetic. Something tells me that if you had met the same circumstances in the US, you would have done the same thing.

Stop trying to justify your decisions. Have you not noticed that you have met no sympathy or kind words in response to your actions? Has it not been made plain to you that many people here will not offer you moral support as you once again, a mere few weeks after abandoning the turtles, try to "rescue" more?

Stop and think before taking any animal into your "care" again. Straighten yourself out first...whatever is going on in your head, your finances, your living situation.

Why should we care? You just said turtles there are abundant so who cares what you do with them. No point in bragging or telling stories, it just makes people think less of you anyways.

RES are pets for us... but I don't know about other owners, but my RES isn't just classified as RES. Frankly I care about my turtles and not about RES in general if that makes sense. I named my turtles, and I care about them and not yours.. or whatever ones you "rescued". A RES is just a turtle to me, but the ones that are my pets are more then that. I think others would agree that what you do with your pets is up to you.. the world is too big to worry about every little thing so who cares what you did with whatever.. post something that benefits people why don't you

And just to add some more stuff

Who cares if you're in Asia? Who cares if pets/animals there are treated different then here. Is any of this relevent? This is a hobbyist forum - this is not some kind of animal protection agency. You make it sound as if we should feel sorry for your predicament or something... when really who cares?

What you do with your RES is up to you... if you want to flush them down the toilet go ahead, but don't come here and brag about it because what more can you say then "turtles don't swim good when being flushed"? If you want to say how to heal a hurt turlte then go for it, that is productive. If you want to look good because you rescued/took 10 turtles, we'd think you were stupid because no one can take care of 10 turtles without a pond. And if you want to say you took in 10 turtles and let them go, then you're just wasting your own time and look stupid for doing so.

Wow. This is a very callous attitude. You make a statement about this person and what he did and then you say you don't care about him or his or anyone else's turtles or anyone else and what they do.

Is this a better attitude than the person you a passing criticizing?

y'all should let it go. some people just don't get it.
-----
~Nancy
Email Me
My Page
My Pets:
9 year old West Highland White Terrier - Bridget
River Cooter Turtle Hatchling - Herb
Red-Eared Slider Turtle Hatchling - Jared
Fire-Bellied Toad - Mohammed
Three Bettas - Depp, Shakespeare, & Jeremiah
Ghost Shrimp - Maude
Pleco - George
Ramshorn Snail - Bob
RIP:
Isis - albino rat
Jamie - Red eared slider

Hahahha...Turtlesong, you make Asia sound like another planet. How ignorant and uncultured can one person possibly be?

Besides, you're in Korea...and I'm SURE that represents Asia to the fullest...(taking care of Bangladesh, Mongolia, Russia, Phillipines, etc).

You've won a Darwin Award, lady.

~Johnny~

Yeah right. Like this is all going to make me feel soooooooooooo bad. Like you've got it all together and can hang pictures of your res's in your living room and admire your little critters without having to really dive in there and do something than wave a few bucks in front of some computer 'shop online ad.' Man, get off it, where do you people come across with these childish emotions?

Seen people treat turtles like crap. Your cars crush 'em on the road. Your toilets and pretty chemicals poison and smother their waters. Your crap you drop in the toilet goes out into their ponds and lakes(think of Chicago, man, think of New York.) YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF NERVE JUMPING ON ME, AND THAT AFTER BEING ON A STITNT IN ASIA?!

YEAH, ASIA, SCMUCK, WHERE KOREA IS? Do you want to go to China, or Taiwan, or down South where almost all Asian turtles are endangered or extinct? Do you want to really raise turtles in China, although you feel for them being stuffed by the thousands in murky ponds pea green but can't take them home cause there's no electricity, no heat? Do you think Korea is any better, really?

My plight was unpredictable. Crap, I could sit here and swallow hard at your words but man, now I can see the difference between East and West: you people can't understand the burden of trying to care for animals in a land that is at best, cruel to every living thing besides humans. And even humans aren't treated that well. Believe me, this has taught me one thing: animals are just animals. Don't make gods of them.

Sounds cruel, but this aspect, this obsession, is just what I found ridiculous about myself, and some hobbyists to boot.

BTW I'm a man. Think like one, and stop acting like girls. Maybe Asia will help you understand this. Come and eat dog soup, or see the dog I saw yesterday being dragged to its death. Then tell me what you think of my mistakes and my stupidity in bungling this last batch of babies I loved, despite the fact, no one here cares, and now I've got you giving me the third degree!

Later with this board. Found positive encouragement on 'Turtle Forum.' This one blows.

LOL...coulda fooled me. All of your whiny posts really attest to that, big guy.

$20 he gets no sympathy on the Turtle forum either....and another $20 that he'll keep on reading this one. =)

Somebody send this guy to a shrink already.

~Johnny

OH yea i was commenting on his eloquent quote "BTW, I'm a man" =P