Turtle Rescued After Being Taped To Balloons

http://www.10news.com/news/31374254/detail.html ^

[MNDude]

Authorities are looking for whoever taped a turtle to several balloons and sent it flying in an Oceanside neighborhood.

The turtle was spotted duct-taped and dangling from balloons that were caught high up in a eucalyptus tree. Some neighbors next door saw what was going on and tried to help the turtle.

"We look up and there's green and blue balloons up there," said resident Chanelle Wright. "He was just swinging his arms trying to get out of it. Somebody had taped him to the balloons."

Wright told 10News, "I called the Humane Society to try to get the fire department out here, but it took about an hour for everybody to actually show up."

"We proceed by checking with everybody in the neighborhood and see if anybody saw anything, who might know who the owner of the turtle is," said Lt. Melyssa Jones, who is with the Humane Society.

If detectives can find out who taped the turtle to the balloons, they could face charges of animal abuse.

[Squawk 8888]

That the police are going after the “culprit” is a bit much.

I agree. Back in the day, this would have been what is Edubabble is called a "teachable moment". Cases of distress caused to animals by kids who didn't know better in my neighbourhood involved the parish priest patiently explaining that it would have been NO FUN AT ALL had we been in the posistion in which we had placed the poor critter. Object lesson in empathy and we were all the wiser for it. By criminalizing such events, any hope that the kid would learn from the experience is dashed by lawyers insisting that he's blameless.

[Squawk 8888]

I would hesitate about mental evaluation. I think a parent, teacher, minister, rabbi or priest would be far better equipped to respond than a shrink could ever dream of being. I speak from bitter experience on this (not on animal cruelty, just on other stupid kid things I did that got “medicalized”). You are 100% correct in your instinct that the criminal justice system is the wrong way to handle this.

[Vinnie]

Just today I rescued a box turtle that was in the middle of the opposing lane of the road.
Pulled off the road and ‘assisted’ him safely to the other side.

[netmilsmom]

>>Next time, the perp could do something cruel to a cat or dog, or even a child.<<

Did ya ever think that “the perp” could have been some kid who didn’t quite think that the turtle would actually fly? Perhaps a group of boys who thought they could grab it but it got too high? Did you raise any boys? They do dumb things and are far from “perps”. Lighten up.

And for Heaven’s sake, you did not say “Every single turtle is important to contribute to the population—there is no surplus of box turtles as their habitat has been increasingly destroyed”

They are selling them as PETS.

http://turtleshack.com/store/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&keyword=box&categories_id=92&inc_subcat=1&manufacturers_id=&pfrom=&pto=&dfrom=&dto=&x=17&y=7

http://www.ehow.com/video_4439577_box-turtles-as-pets.html

And lets face it, if someone hadn’t gotten this turtle down, a bird would have had a great meal. Delivered.

[netmilsmom]

>>Some people need to show how little G-d’s creatures mean to them in order to feel like a man, I guess.<<

Or the economy sucks and they are hungry.
Judge not and all that stuff.

[Eric Pode of Croydon]

It’s possible to be strongly pro-life and at the same time resent needless cruelty to animals. Just in case you need a clue, FRiend.

[MrEdd]

Because food is a normal topic of conversation.
And animals are food.
If articles about Elvis shapes cucumbers, or burned pancakes that look like Jesus get posted, we talk about eating them too.

The fact that some people erroneously elevate animals to be coequal with humanity in their thinking causes some to poke fun at them when they try to inflict that loopiness on others.

[ThirdMate]

“The city SHOULD investigate this act of cruelty. Next time, the perp could do something cruel to a cat or dog, or even a child.”

Or start posting anonymous insults on the internet!

The “perp”, as you put it, most likely a child, has a lesser probability of progressing to a serial killer than a box turtle egg has of progressing to high altitude flight.

What should be done with the “perp” after governmental resources have been expended to identify him? Mark him down on a turtle offender registry? Psychiatric treatment? Ritalin?

I believe many things are beneath the attention of government, rescue of flying turtles and the prosecution of those that launch them being but two examples.

[SpaceBar]

Things would have ended differently if it had landed in North Korea.

[ichabod1]

Prolly a test run for the lawn chair balloon setup the kids planning for before back-to-school. They prolly didnt mean to let im go

[MrEdd]

Following your brilliant reasoning, anyone who could kill and eat a chicken from their barnyard would have no problem with doing the same to a human.

You have a terror of farmers and ranchers, don’t you?

[EinNYC]

Your post is entirely unconvincing. Even if they wanted to find out if a turtle would fly, that does not mean they have to subject a living creature to such treatment. Why not use a block of wood of similar weight and dimensions? Excusing such a person because "they're a boy" and "boys do dumb things" is giving a blanket pass on unthinking acts.

If they had been taught proper respect for living things, I doubt if anyone would attempt such a cruel act.

As for your disdain for my previous statement that "every single turtle is important to contribute to the population", read the following:

http://www.naturalheritage.com/citizen-science/past_projects/box_turtle/turtlethreats.aspx

http://www.mckeever.org/turtle.html

http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?A=2723&Q=416520

http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/midorcas/research/Contribute/Box%20Turtle/whatyoudo.htm

[ichabod1]

we probably would have done that when we were kids like tying firecrackers to a cats tail man that wuz fun

[MaxMax]

So, how many balloons does it take to airlift a turtle?

I don't know, but I still wonder if my cousins hamster ever made it to China.

[ichabod1]

As ol’ dollar Billy Bob Clinton once said, if you see a turtle sittin’ on a fence post, chances are somebody put him there.

[CSM]

Your post, and others on this thread, are a clear indication of the major disconnect between city folk and country folk.

I’d wager many a city slicker would have me labeled a future seriel killer when I was a youngin...I shot many a sparrow in my grandparents barns.

Now that I live in a metro area, these folks and their worries crack me up. Heck, the mere mention of the 2nd ammendment sends folks raised in cities running in fear.

I’m honestly not trying to attack you. I am just pointing out that the disconnect is very stark, to the point of craziness at times. Really, go back and read your post...”OMG the world can’t afford to have even one turtle stuck in a tree! How long before cats and dogs are being sent assunder....” is how it reads to those of us that have spent our youthful summers wandering the land with bb-guns in one hand and our prey in another. Then when we came of age we were put to work on the farm working the fields and butchering cattle, pigs and chickens.

[ThirdMate]

This thread on the same subject was a lot more entertaining:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2921987/posts

[ichabod1]

Yeah, I can’t believe people on here are going along with every angle for the GOVERNMENT TO GET INVOLVED. You are right that in a sane (and small) community this sort of thing would be straightened out privately, pronto.

[5th MEB]

I will kill anything that swims, slithers, crawls, walks or flies and eat it if I am hungry. I will not tolerate cruelty to any living creature; it is below savage and barbaric to cause pain, suffering or distress to animals of any species; they cannot defend themselves. I don't especially hold human life in any more esteem than I would a coyote or a rattler, but there are a lot of silly laws that prevent the killing of a lot of people who desperately need it. You want to be cruel to another human being fine, as long as it is some one who can fight back. Animals and children are out of bounds, period.

[Boogieman]

“What is the politically correct animal hierarchy anyway?”

1. Humans
2. Pets
3. Work Animals
4. Food