Turtle Found in Dumpster May Be Linked to Animal Cruelty
By: Joanna Fitzgerald, Director of the von Arx Wildlife Hospital
A call was placed to the von Arx Wildlife Hospital after a passerby noticed a live turtle in a dumpster behind a strip mall on Goodlette Frank Road. The person did not have the ability to get into the dumpster to retrieve the turtle and was calling for assistance.
Luck would have it that Jason Wallett, one of our many awesome wildlife volunteers, was working that day. Jason loves reptiles, and challenges, and willingly offered to respond to the call for help. The gentleman who had phoned the hospital for assistance was surprised when he realized Jason had quickly arrived on scene, was in the dumpster, no ladder needed, and had already located the turtle amongst the trash.
The turtle showed no external injuries but her behavior was not completely normal. While she was active when handled, she also had periods of inactivity and obviously needed rest. When placed in a tub of water, the turtle was unable to dive which meant she had free air in her coelom (body cavity).
Free air in the body cavity leads to an inability to control buoyancy and is typically caused by some type of trauma. With most turtles, being hit by a car causes trauma resulting in free air in the coelom. In this situation, we had no history on the turtle — was she injured prior to being put in the dumpster or did someone drop her into the dumpster with such force that the impact caused the injury? We just don’t know.
Currently the turtle is recovering in the reptile room at the von Arx Wildlife Hospital. She is allowed time to soak in a shallow tub of water yet is still spending frequent amounts of time out of the water resting in an enclosure. It will take time for the air to dissipate from the coelom. Meanwhile, the turtle will receive supportive care and nutritional support until she makes a full recovery.
While we receive calls about raccoons being trapped in dumpsters after they have climbed in to rummage through the garbage, it is highly unlikely that this turtle somehow accidentally ended up in that dumpster.
Intentional acts of animal cruelty are difficult to comprehend. Most frightening is that people who abuse animals don’t stop with animals. There is an established link between cruelty to animals and violence toward humans making it critically important that animal cruelty be reported to law enforcement. If you see someone intentionally harm an animal, call law enforcement.
Recent Releases
Six eastern cottontails, two gopher tortoises, a grey squirrel, two red-eyed vireos, a black racer and a Florida softshell turtle were released last week.
Opportunities to Help Visit the Conservancy website at www.conservancy.org to view all of the amazing volunteer opportunities at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. Volunteers help in many different capacities and are vital to the success of our work. If you think you could dedicate one shift a week to help in the hospital, contact our volunteer office and get involved. Your volunteer time, donations, and memberships truly help us continue our work to protect Southwest Florida’s water, land, wildlife and future.
