Turtle soup? Banned species in pet shops (TODAY, 20050723)
Petshop operators are interviewed by AVA before the licences are issued. How did they get the licence if they can't even differentiate between endangered and non-endangered species?
Well! I won't say more, except: Please refer to the points stated for these cases: - Shop's cages so small, dogs could hardly move (ST, 20060302) - Slow loris quick bust (TNP, 20041107) . - Go to Go to: Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore."Banned for sale in Singapore, the Chinese stripe-necked turtles had come mixed up in major aquarium stockist Qian Hu's overseas shipment of the more common red-eared sliders. They were then distributed to some Serangoon North pet shops — where they went on sale for between $3 and $8. Not for long, though. An undercover team from local animal welfare group Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) soon found that out, and its tip-off to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) led to a raid. "
"Mr Yap added that the company's salesmen were unaware of the Chinese stripe-necked turtle's recent listing on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites)."
"Mr Bobby Lee, AVA's senior wildlife enforcement officer, said that Qian Hu had "admitted that it had unwittingly imported" some 40 heads of the baby Chinese stripe-necked turtles, which were mixed into its shipment of 2,000 baby red-eared sliders by its overseas supplier.
Said Qian Hu's managing director Kenny Yap: "It was our oversight and negligence ... It was quite impossible to differentiate them when they were put together."
"But Acres says it has reservations about the ignorance plea.
"The hard-shelled red-eared slider and the soft-shelled turtles, such as the stripe-necked turtle, cannot be mixed up. The distinction is very clear between the two species," said Mr Ng.AVA, however, is standing by its position.
"It is difficult to tell the difference. This is our position. They can say what they want (Acres)," said Mr Lee."
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