By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
A VIDEO circulating on social media showing a man brutally killing a sea turtle, believed to be in The Bahamas, is drawing outrage from animal activists and calls for a Royal Bahamas Police Force investigation.
The 41-second video shows a man crushing the turtle’s head with a hammer while the animal tries to escape.
The man is seen to strike the turtle at least 13 times but none of the blows is fatal leaving the desperate animal bleeding and in pain. He then flips the creature on to its back, the turtle clearly still alive. The video then ends.
The law prohibits people from taking, possessing, buying or selling sea turtles.
Contravening relevant regulations can result in a fine of $3,000 and/or up to a year in prison.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Samuel Butler said he will investigate the matter to determine if the video was filmed in Grand Bahama, as some alleged.
Environmentalist Sam Duncombe called the video “sickening”.
“What a disgrace,” she said. “All sea turtles are endangered. If people don’t get that, we are in trouble.”
Eric Carey, executive director of the Bahamas National Trust, emphasised that the matter needs to be investigated by authorities.
“I almost had to puke,” he said. “The police Cybercrime Unit, whoever deals with this needs to act and investigate it. This is horrendous and is a crime against the environment.”
Mr Carey said the turtle may have been captured and was then harvested for its meat.
“People have been eating turtles for years, so the killing of a sea turtle is not in itself inconceivable,” he said. “What we witnessed here is sheer brutality; it’s inhumane. They could’ve easily given the turtle a quick and painless death by slicing the throat which is still gross but to bash the turtle in the head and you could see it’s still alive, that is just a gruesome act. Someone who would do that has a twisted mentality and something is definitely wrong with them. We have to do more environmental education. I’m hoping someone can identity the culprit. He should be arrested and charged to the fullest extent of the law.”
Green turtles are endangered – it is estimated that less than 500,000 may be in existence around the world. In 2009, the government banned the capture and sale of sea turtles.
Comments
BahamaRed 6 years, 1 month ago
Please find them and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. That was sickening and inhumane.
joeblow 6 years, 1 month ago
That he has broken the law is obvious!
The real issue is WHY did he kill it? Was it for sport (which would be sickening) or to eat? Opinions should be withheld until the WHY is answered!
becks 6 years, 1 month ago
JoeBlow...the why is irrelevant. If you watched the video he made stew and soup. He can also be seen to not be starving and even if he was starving it would be no justification or excuse for his behaviour. He broke the law in a cruel and inhumane way. End of story.
joeblow 6 years, 1 month ago
I always want to know what's going on in a persons head BEFORE stating an opinion. I read the story but did not view the video!
becks 6 years, 1 month ago
Joe...fair enough. He killed the turtle to eat..if you watch the video there is no question about his motives or anything else.
TheWhistleblower1978 6 years, 1 month ago
This is so disturbing man. I hope he is given a full year in prison, plus a hefty fine.
Tricyzshop 6 years, 1 month ago
If it's done to eat..Please..Mr. enjoy your turtle meat! People are killing us with poisonous imported food..LOOK THEM UP!! People are killing in the cause of dangerous driving with no license or insurance..LOOK THEM UP AND THROW AWAY THE KEY!! People are here illegally living in illegal communities, in illegal structures, practicing illegal trades, polluting our environement..LOOK THEM UP AND THROW THEM OUT!!!
Give me a break!!!
SashaDean 6 years, 1 month ago
If you had any level of intelligence, you would know that it's not just about consumption. Sea turtles add to the ecosystem and are important to marine life which is already being over-consumed by humans. This post is not about people killing people, this post is sea turtle.....thanks!
Aegeaon 6 years, 1 month ago
Ugh. This has nothing to do with immigrants, stop defending horrid behavior from this person. The turtles are an endangered breed of animal, and does a lot of wonders of this ecosystem. This comparison is stupid.
sealice 6 years, 1 month ago
No really years and years of consecutive ministers of education .... this is the end result product....thanks for nothin....
DDK 6 years, 1 month ago
ONE SICK F _ ! Please do your job RBPF! Supposed to be an eye for an eye..........
sheeprunner12 6 years, 1 month ago
Why do animal activists get so outraged over these kinds of things?????? ........... But humans are being murdered, raped, tortured and abused by the hundreds each day in Nassau?????
Where is the outrage for fellow human beings??????
ThisIsOurs 6 years, 1 month ago
Get your point, I think it's because these animals are "helpless", it's like an adult hurting a child, that act is considered a million times worse than an act against an adult. At least that's my opinion, there's no reason for it, which makes it especially cruel, the animal didn't make you mad, it didn't steal your girlfriend, didn't kill your friend, isn't in a rival gang...it didn't do anything to you...
licks2 6 years, 1 month ago
ONE THING YOU LEFT OUT ABOUT THEM. . .THEY ARE USUALLY RICH!! THEIR ANCESTORS THEM HAVE ALREADY "EXPLOIT" THE HECK OUT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. . .EDUCATED THEM ON THE PROCEEDS. . .SET THEIR TAILS UP FOR LIFE ON "DIRT MONEY". . .NOW THEY WANT TO SAVE THE WORLD. . .FROM THE REST OF THE POOR EXPLOITERS THEM. . .
BahamaRed 6 years, 1 month ago
Exactly ThisIsOurs... animals have no voice to plead or beg for its life. To do this to any animal is sickening and cruel.
And the people who find nothing wrong with this, these are the kinds of people who are quite capable of committing murder with no justification.
My2centz 6 years, 1 month ago
His crime is killing a protected specie; not how or why. And no, it does not make him capable of committing murder. Let's be serious.
Only vegans have the right to scold others about the killing of innocent animals without a voice or ability to defend themselves. Because I'm pretty sure the slaughterhouses do not put the cows, pigs and chickens to sleep before killing them in a 'humane' manner in preparation for your plates. And if you're knowingly eating their goods; you're just as bad and just as capable of murder as this guy. Aren't you?
ThisIsOurs 6 years, 1 month ago
I eat meat, I love meat, made some very delicious hamburgers today and I fancy I could do a brisk business if I knew anything about running a restaurant. However, I did not go outside and bludgeon a cow to get the beef. The point was only that that was unnecessary cruelty, theres absolutely no reason to do that..unless it's a flying roach
stillwaters 6 years, 1 month ago
Or a centipede inside my house. All bets off!!!!!!!
My2centz 6 years, 1 month ago
Do you really think the slaughterhouse took a humane, cruelty free, approach when they bludgeoned the cow you just ate? Do you think it was kept clean, comfortable and given last rites before it was unnecessarily killed to feed human beings who are biologically capable of thriving on a plant based diet? There's no difference between them, you or this man.
ThisIsOurs 6 years, 1 month ago
There's a huge difference. No I don't think the slaughterhouse bludgeons each animal to death, for one it would be highly inefficient. This act here was not about getting food, this was about inflicting pain on a weaker vessel.
I'll probably bake a whole chicken today and I'll thank the Lord for providing for one more day
Jetflt 6 years, 1 month ago
Someone needs to take that SOB’s head and do to his head what he did to the turtle you sick MFer! Find his ass and lock him up!
My2centz 6 years, 1 month ago
@ThisIsOurs There are documentaries out there that will show you the equally brutal methods the slaughterhouses employ against animals as innocent and defenseless as this turtle. Even in the US where they supposedly have higher standards. I stopped eating meat for while after watching one. And their purpose was the same as this man - food. Don't kid yourself because you didn't see it happen to your cow, that it didn't happen.
@Jetflt Take his head off? If you wish that, even in anger, for another human being, how can you be sincerely concerned about a turtle? That's sick.
These comments reek of hypocrisy.
sheeprunner12 6 years, 1 month ago
Exactly ........ every form of slaughter is brutal ....... from fish, pigs to cows. I am sure it hurts when a cabbage is ripped from its roots as well ........ smh.
becks 6 years, 1 month ago
There are two seperate issues here. 1) the brutality of how he killed the turtle and 2) the actual crime of killing a protected species under Bahamian law.
1) the brutality and apparent anger involved, it was uneccasary. He could have found a quicker, less obviously savage way to kill the turtle, such as removing its head with a cutlass or cutting its throat. It still would have been illegal.
2) leaving aside the actual method that the turtle was killed, just the act of killing it was a crime under Bahamian law. In the Bahamas it has been illegal to catch,possess,transport,harass or kill any and all species of sea-turtles since 2009. Period end of story.
So no matter how the turtle came into his possession or how he killed it or even why he killed it, he broke the laws of the country and should be punished under the law.
My2centz 6 years, 1 month ago
There's really just one issue, it was illegal because the turtle was protected.
We have no idea how much the animals that end up on our plates suffer beforehand and in the process. The first blow, shot or chop may not have been sufficient, as in this case. If how really matters, I think some of you need to watch how it's done at the slaughterhouses.
becks 6 years, 1 month ago
My2centz..we get it...slaughterhouses are bad too. You’ve made your point. And you are correct..we don't really know how bad it is at various slaughterhouses except when we see videos filmed undercover. Got it. But we aren’t having a general discussion about slaughterhouses here. We are talking about one specific event that happened 2 days ago in our neighbourhood.
My2centz 6 years, 1 month ago
What's happening here is hypocrisy and faux outrage. People are using this as an opportunity to assert superiority. It's all bad whether it happened in your neighborhood or across the ocean. This is as silly as the obviously broke "boss" saying, "broke people go to Miami. I got to FL."
BahamaRed 6 years, 1 month ago
Fact is it was inhumane and cruel the way he went about killing this defenseless turtle. Had it not been illegal I'd still be disgusted by the way he murdered the turtle.
Now add to the fact it was illegal, makes it even more disgusting because he knowingly bludgeoned to death an endangered animal.
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