Stop the Killing of Gopher Tortoises in Florida

Gopher tortoises by the thousands are being crushed by bulldozers and are slowly suffocated legally by greedy land developers in Florida. It takes months for gopher tortoises to starve or suffocate to death once their burrows have been paved over, and the hundreds of other animals that share their burrows will also die. Please read below and support this cause, and stop the killing!

On July 31st of 2007, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission will stop giving out permits to developers in Florida who want to kill gopher tortoises for the sake of land development. Unfortunately, the permits that will be given out until the end of July will allow limitless tortoises to be slaughtered FOREVER. This must stop or our children will never know what a gopher tortoise is!

There is talk among officials regarding whether or not to label gopher tortoises in Florida as endangered. Their current labeling is species of special concern, but at the rate at which the tortoises are being destroyed, the population has been cut down to less than half from almost 100 years ago.

Tortoises are intelligent, slow moving creatures that should be protected. We, as human beings, are stewards of the earth. We must not be blinded by money over the wellbeing of an important species that provides homes to many others. It is true that it can be exceedingly expensive to take special precautions to locate and properly move these tortoises, but if it means stopping the needless extinction of a species, isnt it worth it?

Resources used for this petition are the following:
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/07/news_pf/State/A_license_to_kill_tor.shtml
http://www.hsus.org/search.jsp?query=gopher+tortoise

Interested petitioners can write the following addresses for support for this cause:
Charlie Crist, Governor
Office of the Governor
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
850-488-7146
Fax: 850-487-0801
[email protected]

Kenneth Haddad, Executive Director
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Farris Bryant Building
620 S. Meridian St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600
850-487-3796
[email protected]