Mark the Turtle Inspector
Mar. 31st, 2005 04:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kybearfuzzIt's been three long years, but I was sent out on a "turtle run" today.
Every so often, my office gets a complaint that a pet store or other company is selling turtles that have a caripace less than four inches long. For those wanting to educate yourself on the obscure turtle regulation, go here.
Now, most people ask what the big deal is. In general, the history is that kids used to buy the baby turtles, some varieties of which were Salmonella carriers. The kids would play with them, not wash their hands, and get sick. In 1975, Uncle Sam put a regulation in place to prevent the sale of turtles this small. The idea is that kids only want the smaller turtles, not the bigger ones. The number of cases of sick kids went down, so it apparently worked.
Of course, when I visit a pet shop, the owner who runs the place I visit always swear they got "special permission" or had no idea or tell me they only sell to teachers (there's an educational exemption). Strange how most of these teachers write like little kids on his waiver forms.
The bright spot is that I worked with a county inspector on this. He's a nice guy, expressive eyes, bald with a thick brown beard that is just turning gray at his chin, and a tummy that would make![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shortstackbear drool! He's also married with five kids... Oh well, no one is perfect.
Every so often, my office gets a complaint that a pet store or other company is selling turtles that have a caripace less than four inches long. For those wanting to educate yourself on the obscure turtle regulation, go here.
Now, most people ask what the big deal is. In general, the history is that kids used to buy the baby turtles, some varieties of which were Salmonella carriers. The kids would play with them, not wash their hands, and get sick. In 1975, Uncle Sam put a regulation in place to prevent the sale of turtles this small. The idea is that kids only want the smaller turtles, not the bigger ones. The number of cases of sick kids went down, so it apparently worked.
Of course, when I visit a pet shop, the owner who runs the place I visit always swear they got "special permission" or had no idea or tell me they only sell to teachers (there's an educational exemption). Strange how most of these teachers write like little kids on his waiver forms.
The bright spot is that I worked with a county inspector on this. He's a nice guy, expressive eyes, bald with a thick brown beard that is just turning gray at his chin, and a tummy that would make
shortstackbear drool! He's also married with five kids... Oh well, no one is perfect. 
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