Adoption Program Success

[Marshall]

I have been trying for the past year or so to get the county animal shelter to allow turtles and fish to be added to their list of animals available for adoption and they have resisted and ignored the request up till now. They had said that they did not consider turtles/fish as "companion animals or pets" but it seems they have changed their mind or at least are making some progress. They have agreed to allow me and others to list turtles & fish in their shelter list and will allow a picture and description of the turtle/fish to be posted in the shelter for people to see when they come in or go to the website . The best part is that because of their lack of knowledge or interest in turtles they are going to allow the rescue operator or current pet owner to screen/evaluate the potential adopter themselves and determine whether the person and their home environment is appropriate for the animal. I am going to post the first issue listings that have the turtles listed and will also post updates when one gets adopted for anyone who is interested in the program. As far as costs are concerned I personally will not be charging any fees so anyone adopting one of my rescued turtles will not have to pay and will also receive a 2 week supply of food for free on me. I'm not sure what other rescuers will do but I hope they don't charge either or charge very little. Also I would love to hear what you guys think about this and if there is anything like it where you live.

 

[addy1]

That is fantastic! I have not heard of anything like that here, but also have not looked for info on it.

 

[HARO]

What exactly are the requirements for a 'rescue operator?
John

 

[Marshall]

What exactly are the requirements for a 'rescue operator?
John

For a rescuer you would need
1. Space to keep the turtles (I have 2 ponds three 55 gallon tanks two 75 and three 10.
2. Money to feed them for up to 3 -5 years ( 10 turtles cost about 35 - 45 dollars a month in food)
3. Time to care for them (roughly 2 hours or more each day)
4. A vet that is experienced and can handle a case load the size of a rescue ( I currently have 3 personal pet turtles and 9 in rescue and I have a vet who cares for all of them and will care for up to 15 if needed.
5. A lot of patience and compassion for the animal.

 

[Mmathis]

What exactly are the requirements for a 'rescue operator?
John

Good question, and I've often wondered the same thing -- I considered it at one time.

 

[Mmathis]

For a rescuer you would need
1. Space to keep the turtles (I have 2 ponds three 55 gallon tanks two 75 and three 10.
2. Money to feed them for up to 3 -5 years ( 10 turtles cost about 35 - 45 dollars a month in food)
3. Time to care for them (roughly 2 hours or more each day)
4. A vet that is experienced and can handle a case load the size of a rescue ( I currently have 3 personal pet turtles and 9 in rescue and I have a vet who cares for all of them and will care for up to 15 if needed.
5. A lot of patience and compassion for the animal.

What about licenses and/or permits?

 

[Marshall]

What about licenses and/or permits?

Depends on whether you are in a city limit and also if you intend to sell them then you will need to be certified in that mater. I had to get a "small farm" license and had to take a test to be certified in infection prevention and cross contamination prevention for salmonella and water borne pathogens and had to pass a test to prove competence in administering medications safely to reptiles.

 

[Marshall]

What about licenses and/or permits?

By the way if possible you would make an awesome rescue operator for box turtles or other land turtles.

 

[Mmathis]

By the way if possible you would make an awesome rescue operator for box turtles or other land turtles.

Thank you. I thought about it at one time, but I enjoy my own babies. If I added rescues, in order to have enough space, I'd have to take away from what they have now in their habitat and that's not fair to them. Anyway, I looked it up through our WLF site, and there are several re-habbers around.