YOMIURI SHIMBUN (Tokyo, Japan) 20 April 05 Turtle owners seeking adoptions as law comes into force
With the Invasive Alien Species Law coming into force in June, pet shops and animal research institutes have received an increasing number of phone calls from owners of snapping turtles--which are subject to the law--asking the facilities to adopt the animals.
The law aims to prevent damage to the ecosystem by specific foreign species.
From June, owners must have gained approval from the Environment Ministry to keep such animals. Those who do not have approval or release the turtles into the wild face prison sentences of up to three years and penalties of up to 3 million yen. The ministry believes people who own the turtles will try to get rid of them before the law is enforced.
When the species was designated a harmful animal under the Law of Humane Treatment and Management of Animals in 2000, a group of snapping turtles were disposed of in the Inbanuma lake in Chiba Prefecture. The ministry has asked owners not to repeat such acts when the new law comes into force, but to continue to care for their pets.
The Alligator Snapping Turtle Biology and Breeding Laboratory in Okayama has received phone calls almost every day from owners who would like the organization to adopt their pets.
The organization has persuaded such owners to seek ministry approval and keep them, but it has adopted several turtles because they were about to be killed or released. Some pet shops have adopted turtles, but many zoos, including Ueno Zoo in Taito Ward, Tokyo, have refused such requests.
Snapping turtles were a popular pet that could be bought at many pet stores until five years ago. The animals, however, grow large and become aggressive, making it difficult for owners to care for them.
Turtle owners seeking adoptions as law comes into force