New Hampshire Animal Rights League NHARL Liberates Snapping Turtle After 24 Years in a Fish Tank
An Entertainment Abuses Articles from All-Creatures.org

FROM New Hampshire Animal Rights League NHARL
October 2021

Imagine spending your entire life in solitary confinement, unable to move farther than a few feet in any direction, and never able see another member of your own species.

snapping turtle tank

This was the bleak existence for a “pet” snapping turtle named Shelly who lived in a fish tank in Tilton, NH for 24 years.

Imagining what that turtle’s life must be like kept members of the NH Animal Rights League, and an outraged woman named Hillarie Goldstein, awake at night.

How Could This Happen?

Shelly the turtle was taken from the wild as a hatchling by well-meaning but uninformed people who saw her attempting to cross a busy downtown intersection. Although their intentions were good, they made the mistake of keeping the turtle far beyond the time when she could have been safely released back into the wild.

In New Hampshire, it is perfectly legal to take a snapping turtle out of the wild and make it a pet. In fact, you are allowed to take up to two.

This surprises most people, who reasonably assume that taking an animal out of the wild and keeping it captive is illegal.

Turns out there are some animals you can take from the wild, and some that you can’t. Having exclusive control over all captive and noncaptive wildlife in the state, The NH Fish and Game Department makes the rules.

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Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE (PDF)

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