(Please note: I'm not going to post this in the "Turtle Forum" because of the presence of a significant number of younger people who follow the posts there ... but you may have friends over there that should know. I'd recommend zapping them the URL direct.
respectfully, Wes)
FORT PIERCE TRIBUNE (Florida) 08 January 05 Man faces charges in death of turtle (Gabriel Margasak)
Stuart: Stuart man was charged with felony animal cruelty Friday after allegedly killing a little girl's turtle in a microwave after a domestic dispute with her mother, authorities said.
Anthony Calicchio, 39, of Southeast Seminole Street, was arrested in the death of the turtle, named Shelly, as he checked in with his parole officer Friday afternoon.
"It's disgusting," Martin County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Sgt. Jenell Atlas said. "It's unbelievable ... no animal needs to be treated that way."
Calicchio's girlfriend told a deputy the two had an argument Wednesday, according to a sheriff's report. After spending the night at a friend's house, she received a message on her cell phone stating her 7-year-old daughter's turtle was in the microwave.
A deputy arrived to find an empty turtle tank and found Shelly dead inside the oven.
The girlfriend, who asked that her name not be used, said in an interview Friday she and Calicchio had bought the turtle about a month ago for her daughter's birthday.
State records show Calicchio has a prior criminal history in Florida including a guilty plea to driving with a suspended driver license and two arrests alleging possession of cocaine and violation of probation.
He was being held at the Martin County jail on a $250,000 bail.
Man faces charges in death of turtle
