Our animal welfare officers traveling in Thailand, in Buriram province. Actually it should have been a market stroll, to provide themselves with delicious fresh fruit, vegetables, and possibly also some chicken for dinner. On a clear place of the market, they see a pitchman with two buckets. On closer inspection they notice turtles. It is clear that these animals are not offered for sale to get a new home.

In Asia, turtles are massively eaten or processed into medicines. People also collect sacks of their eggs, which are considered a delicacy. They overexploit the home waters of turtles, They dam in and pollute streams and rivers and transform swamps and jungle into plantations for oil palms, sugar cane and rice. Our officer rapidly agreed on a price with the pitchman. We took the bucket of turtles to a school pond and released them into freedom.