In Chulalongkorn University, one of the very few animal hospital located in Bangkok, they see/treat damaged and harmed animals of all kind. Turtles specifically have been deemed to have it the worst. In the past year, more than 250 shelled turtles and environmental crime officers in Bangkok rescued about 300 turtles with cracked shells. But thankfully, all these turtles were rushed to the Chula hospital.
You get crushed by cars, poached by humans, stacked in temple pools, or even snatched in the wild for travel illegally into suitcases.
The Chula hospital is the place where a famous turtle had surgery to remove 915 coins. The turtle, Piggy Bank, lived in a basin where people were throwing coins.
Nantarika Chansue, a veterinarian of Chula hospital said, “we see turtles similar to Piggy Bank every day.” But the university veterinary center treats pets of all accidents or injuries- ranging from infected parasites to roadside accidents. According to hospital staff, most turtles are admitted for road injuries during the rainy season.
Thailand’s roads are not the only impediment, but it is the turtle’s worse fate (alongside of being illegally poached and sold into horrid conditions.) In Thailand, people buying turtles because they hoping to gain merit by then re-releasing them into the wild. Hence, many turtles are sold in wats or market. The national parks department’s Wild Hawk environmental crime task force helps turtles. Navee Changpirom, from this group, rescued about 250 turtles in more than a dozen raids. Raids take place on Bangkok area on markets and wats.
Turtles during transportation are displaced into water, which causes severe damage and death for the turtles, because they need land to survive. Poaching is a common killer. In fact, turtles need to live in nature. This industry creates a cycle of hell for the animals, according Bongkochrat Klakirtpol.
In some occasions, the turtles that are let go free from merit are sadly caught and resold. When people continue to make merit from buying turtles, it supports a vicious cycle of sin to keep selling.
As a conclusion, turtles need to live in the nature. Buying them on the market is a sin. It is illegal also it encourages poaching of this defenseless species. Roads and cars that invade their natural spaces already torture turtles.