EMPTY ALL CAGES

Source: Examiner, Nuvo, Facebook

Editor’s Note: They are obviously lying and trying to find a loophole, but this the best these lowlife inbreds could come up with. Maybe they are cancelling whatever is exactly against the law, but not really the game. I don’t know, but every lie they tell needs to be exposed. They’ve been making alot of money for 15 yrs- we should expect a fight.

Representatives at the Aurora Campgrounds announced on Thursday that part of the event of “Snapperfest“ has been canceled after the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) stated animal cruelty laws also apply to the humane treatment of turtles. The “Snapperfest” activities during 2011 brought huge protests against the event.

A beer-soaked bacchanal centered on the domination of snapping turtles is now at the center of a legal challenge claiming that the state is failing to enforce its laws against animal cruelty. According to Indiana Code 35-46-3-12, “A person who knowingly or intentionally beats a vertebrate animal commits cruelty to an animal, a Class A misdemeanor.”

Snapperfest is held at Campshore Campgrounds at 8548 State Road 56, Aurora, IN.

Snapper Turtles are cold blooded reptiles that have very strong jaws that can pinch and sever human fingers. They are also capable of being very flexible with its head. This makes handling them very dangerous due to it’s incredible reach with it’s beak-like jaws. Like all turtles, the shell of a Snapping turtle is living tissue. As such it can feel pain. According to Frank Indiviglio of That Reptile Blog, lifting a turtle by it’s tail “will cause severe injuries to the spine and internal organs.”

For anyone who has never heard of “Snapperfest,”  picture an overweight flabby “macho man” shirtless, and wearing overalls while plucking a snapping turtle out of a tank, running with it, grabbing the animal around its neck, swinging it or slamming it to the ground, and ultimately pulling the animal’s head out of its shell without the “macho man” getting bitten. That’s a sport!?

The Ohio County event has been happening for the last 15 years, but the cruelty of the event brought the footage provided by the World Animal Awareness Society captured examples of cruelty in violation of state law, such as turtles held by their tails, repeatedly dropped and/or thrown to the ground and held up by their heads.

Organizers of the events say that no turtles have ever been killed and many of the animals are released back into the wild.

One activists said, “It’s a very sad statement to humanity, our civilized society, and especially to our children to allow the abject cruelty of grabbing a wild turtle out of a wash tub, yanking her by her head out of her shell, slamming her to the ground, swinging her around by her neck, and calling that “just a little fun the guys have.”

Nevertheless the DNR asks that everyone pay close attention to the Aurora Campground off of State Road 56 and ensure that no turtles are being mishandled.