Hi,

Please accept our apologies for contacting you. We are looking for
animal caring people to support our campaign and ask you kindly read
on. 10's of 1000's of tortoises are once again entering the UK from
abroad under the guise they are captive bred, this is not the case.
Most of these are originating from a Slovenian exporter, who has
apparently amassed enough breeding stock over the last 5-6 years to
produce this multi-million pound industry. It is not possible this
can be done legally; if there is such a breeding program where did
the 10's of 1000's of adults come from to support such a breeding
program, they shouldn't be taken from the wild – it's illegal. Also
the scale of the project that would be necessary to produce the
number of hatchlings exported would be unmanageable. The only
feasible explanation is they are either being taken from the wild
and/or they derive from eggs stolen from wild animals.
Both of these methods are illegal and will affect the indigenous
populations in the wild. However the UK government office, DEFRA, is
allowing these animals to enter the UK legally as Captive-bred
animals. Many are dying incredibly agonising deaths within a few
months, some just days, of their sale due to chronic worm
infestations and other illnesses made worse due by their stressful
journey and stowage whilst being held prior to and during their
arduous journey . We have heard of innumerable cases of these poor
animals dying decades ahead of their time, merely to line the
pockets of greedy dealers.
We at the tortoise Protection Group are campaigning to stop this
happening and ask for your support. We ask you kindly join our forum
to pledge your support and we will be distributing petitions and
asking members to write to their MP's to bring this cruel trade to a
halt. You do not have to be a tortoise keeper to care for what is
happening and to make a difference.

If you are a tortoise keeper, we are in the process of collating
some of the most informative care sheets for different species on
the internet and we have experienced people willing to help with
anyone's questions.

If you have any questions at all, please ask on our forum.

PLEASE JOIN AND PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT ON OUR FORUM

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/TortoiseProtectionGroup/

Again please accept out apologies for using your forum as a
platform, we are extremely concerned for the 10's of 1000's of
tortoises that are being allowed to irresponsibly enter the UK.