Turtles land grocer in hot water
A HONG KONG couple living in the United States are in hot water because of hundreds of turtles they want to turn into soup.
Grocer Chhor Kuy-chang , 46, is battling Californian animal welfare authorities for the return of 322 of the reptiles which he wants to sell as food in his supermarket.
Animal control officials are accusing him of cruelty and want to give the creatures away as pets. Hundreds of pet-lovers have already telephoned offering good homes for them.
The row blew up when neighbours of the Glory Supermarket in Garden Grove complained of a foul small coming from behind the store.
Welfare workers found the palm-sized, red-eared sliders huddled together without water or shade. They confiscated the animals and police moved in to cite the couple.
'Some of them were rotting,' police Captain Dave Abrecht said. 'What alerted the neighbours was a foul odour.' The turtles, which are sold for US$20 to US$30 (HK$155-$232) in pet shops, can live for more than 10 years. They typically cost about US$6 in supermarkets, which sell them to make aphrodisiac and health soups.
The Chhors are understood to have paid about US$3 for each turtle.
Under California law it is illegal to sell live animals, apart from fish, in food shops, and even dead turtles can only be sold if they have been raised on state-approved ranches.
The Chhors claimed they were left with the turtles when a customer let them down, and that they tried to treat them humanely, but their in-store tank was not big enough.
'A customer ordered 300,' Mrs Fong Chhor said. 'Then he called and said, 'I don't want to pick [them] up right now.' 'I didn't have enough water. I thought the backyard was better.' Now the turtles are living in paddling pools at an Orange County animal shelter until a judge decides their future.
But Animal Control Lieutenant Marie Hulett said: 'There's no way Chhor is getting the turtles back. At this point they are evidence.
'We should have no problem finding a home for all these guys.
'I just wish people would care as much about the dogs and cats we have here every day of the year.' So far she has received more than 200 calls about adopting the turtles - including one man who wanted all of them.
Mr Chhor is refusing to sign over rights to the turtles to Orange County, which cannot give them away until he does or a judge rules he has no right to their return.
