Aldabra Torts Siezed in NJ

[Greg T]

Huge tortoises seized from NJ home, taken to zoo

HIGHLANDS, N.J. (AP) — Authorities have charged a New Jersey man who owned four tortoises, including one weighing between 500 and 600 pounds.

Richard Hines Jr. of the Highlands is charged with possession of exotic species without a permit.

State Environmental Protection Department spokesman Larry Ragonese says neighbors reported what they described as "crying" by the tortoises and were feeding them. The tortoises were being kept in the yard on Sept. 1.

Officials had given Hines 10 days to improve their conditions.

The reptiles were taken to the Popcorn Park Zoo in Lacey Township Tuesday for evaluation.

Ragonese says one tortoise weighed more than 200 pounds and two were 50-pounders. The reptiles are Aldabra tortoises, which are second in size only to the Galapagos tortoise.

The owner had moved from North Carolina in June

 

[terryo]

Maybe they didn't give him enough time to get everyone settled since he recently moved there.....Crying?? Sad, but I know a lot of turtle owners here , and I think I'm about the only one who has a license/permit. No matter how well they are kept, "they" can always take your animals if you don't have a permit. Then they usually go into rescue's or some corrupt law enforcer will bring them home to their kids. Sorry...I just hate the system.

 

[Jacqui]

I would think if you were given 10 days and were not going to be able to get things in that length of time as they wanted them, I would have moved the tortoises out of there and then work further on meeting specifications rather then letting them take my tortoises.

Wonder how hard it is to get that permit.

 

[dmmj]

While he should have gotten a permit, they don't say what was the conditions that need to be improved.

 

[Jacqui]

Maybe they didn't give him enough time to get everyone settled since he recently moved there.....Crying?? Sad, but I know a lot of turtle owners here , and I think I'm about the only one who has a license/permit. No matter how well they are kept, "they" can always take your animals if you don't have a permit. Then they usually go into rescue's or some corrupt law enforcer will bring them home to their kids. Sorry...I just hate the system.

Terry, would your permit be the same?

 

[dmmj]

Jacqui I imagine they were taken first and then he was given ten days to improve things.

 

[terryo]

Maybe they didn't give him enough time to get everyone settled since he recently moved there.....Crying?? Sad, but I know a lot of turtle owners here , and I think I'm about the only one who has a license/permit. No matter how well they are kept, "they" can always take your animals if you don't have a permit. Then they usually go into rescue's or some corrupt law enforcer will bring them home to their kids. Sorry...I just hate the system.

Terry, would your permit be the same?

In New York, it's illegal to own a native species. So I have a license/permit to own and collect different species of Box Turtles. They encourage breeding and releasing. When you renew your licence each year you have to have a letter/certificate saying you brought them to a school. This is where the educational purpose comes in, especially if you have hatchlings. I go to my son's old pre-school.

 

[Jacqui]

Jacqui I imagine they were taken first and then he was given ten days to improve things.

Nope says they "had" given him not they "have" given him the 10 days. Plus he is only charged with no permit, nothing to do with incorrect conditions.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Jacqui I imagine they were taken first and then he was given ten days to improve things.

Your tax dollars @ work...

 

[terryo]

I don't know anything about NJ, but here in NY, it took me 6 months after I applied the first time to get my permit. When I renewed it took about three months.

 

[tweeter]

I found an article about it online. It said he'd dug a deep pit, and half of it was filled with water...and the water itself was digusting. The article made it sound like that was the only thing he'd done for them.

 

[terryo]

I wish we could see some pictures....I am a doubting Thomas.

 

[tweeter]

no pics, but here's one article.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/09...ises-from-highlands-home-owner-faces-charges/

 

[Tom]

So you need a permit to keep non-native pet turtles and tortoises in Jersey?

Man, I thought CA was the worst state out there for this sort of thing.

 

[FranklinTturtle]

If the article is correct I don't think he should be able to get them back. Shame on him.

 

[GBtortoises]

Terry, I had permits in NY state for native species for over 20 years up until about 5 years ago. I have to strongly disagree that DEC encourages breeding and releasing. DEC absolutely does not encourage captive breeding and releasing of captive kept species was and to my knowledge still is illegal! They "tolerate" captive breeding of species native to NY state at best. They certainly do not encourage it. I had permits to possess adults and sell the captive offspring of N.A. Wood turtles, Eastern, Three-toed and Gulf Coast Box turtles. I also kept and bred Spotted turtles which at the time were not required to have a permit for. In NY state you must have permits to keep any species of North American Box turtles because our crack team of state biologists cannot tell the difference between some of the subspecies. This was by their own admission to me almost 30 years ago. Also when I refer to keeping native species, in New York state you can keep species native to the state from legally obtained sources but they absolutely cannot be collected in the wild from NY state. In other words you must buy them primarily from out of state, legal sources. I don't know about now, but then you did not need a reason (educational, etc...) to keep a native species as a pet as long as you were not going to be selling offspring. But you did need a permit to keep them as a pet. As of 2005 any and all animal species that are native to New York state require a permit in some form or another to possess. I've also never been aware of a permit allowing the collection of any native species that required permits. The exception to owning species that came from the wilds of NY State is a permit holding Wildlife Rehabilitator who would obtain them due to rehabilitation needs. The bottomline is that NY State DEC has never liked the idea of citizens owning native species. I used to be in frequent contact with the director of the endangered species unit, Al Breisch. I think the only reason that I got some of the permits as easily as I did was because he eventually became confident in me that I might have an idea of what I was doing!

 

[terryo]

Terry, I had permits in NY state for native species for over 20 years up until about 5 years ago. I have to strongly disagree that DEC encourages breeding and releasing. DEC absolutely does not encourage captive breeding and releasing of captive kept species was and to my knowledge still is illegal! They "tolerate" captive breeding of species native to NY state at best. They certainly do not encourage it. I had permits to possess adults and sell the captive offspring of N.A. Wood turtles, Eastern, Three-toed and Gulf Coast Box turtles. I also kept and bred Spotted turtles which at the time were not required to have a permit for. In NY state you must have permits to keep any species of North American Box turtles because our crack team of state biologists cannot tell the difference between some of the subspecies. This was by their own admission to me almost 30 years ago. Also when I refer to keeping native species, in New York state you can keep species native to the state from legally obtained sources but they absolutely cannot be collected in the wild from NY state. In other words you must buy them primarily from out of state, legal sources. I don't know about now, but then you did not need a reason (educational, etc...) to keep a native species as a pet as long as you were not going to be selling offspring. But you did need a permit to keep them as a pet. As of 2005 any and all animal species that are native to New York state require a permit in some form or another to possess. I've also never been aware of a permit allowing the collection of any native species that required permits. The exception to owning species that came from the wilds of NY State is a permit holding Wildlife Rehabilitator who would obtain them due to rehabilitation needs. The bottomline is that NY State DEC has never liked the idea of citizens owning native species. I used to be in frequent contact with the director of the endangered species unit, Al Breisch. I think the only reason that I got some of the permits as easily as I did was because he eventually became confident in me that I might have an idea of what I was doing!

You might be right as I have never spoken to anyone in DEC, only other friends who have box turtles, and this is what I was told. My license says "License to Collect or Possess - Education/Exhibition, License to Collect or Possess Scientific, License to Possess or Sell, License to Collect or Possess Banding or a License to Collect or Possess Zoological". It is issued from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Fish, Wildlife & Marine Resources." It cost $10. It was very easy to get, and all I had to do was fill out a three page form, and mail it in with a check. The reason I started doing this is because I was friends with Julie Maguire who runs the Long Island Rescue and she wanted me to get a license so she could give me some Eastern's. Also I thought if one ever got lost I would need the license to get it back if someone found it. This is a serious thing to me, but to others it's nothing more than a joke. There are kids that go in the woods and take these beautiful turtles to Pet Stores and sell them. No matter what my license says, I have never taken any out of the woods here, nor have I released any into the wild. I also have never brought in any eggs to incubate, but left them to nature, and the one's that I found in the Summer in my old turtle garden, I raised and kept. But I've decided now that any eggs I find I'll be incubating.
Sorry for going off topic.

 

[froghaven5]

I have a permit for our sulcata. It is illegal to buy or sell turtles or tortoise in NJ. You can get a permit $10/ year for all your reptiles. You just need to apply and give the circumstances you obtained the reptiles. We got our OP at a reptile show in PA. No problem getting a permit. There are seperate permits for owning as a pet, breeding, selling, and even for showing reptiles.

 

[AshleyJones]

500-Pound Tortoise Removed From N.J. Home

I dont know if everyone has already seen this or not but

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/500-pound-tortoise-removed-from-nj-home-20110913-lgf

 

[samstar]

RE: 500-Pound Tortoise Removed From N.J. Home

Read it in the local papers yesterday, thanks for posting. Hopefully they go to a good zoo or home.