KERN COUNTY CHAPTER

ADOPTIONS

For Kern County chapter adoptions inquiries, please email: kernturtletortoise@gmail.com

Each year, California Turtle and Tortoise Club Adoption Committees rescue and place hundreds of abandoned, lost, seized, injured or diseased turtles and tortoises that have been turned in by other humane organizations, members of the public, local and federal government officers and veterinarians. These animals are treated, if sick, and are then placed as quickly as possible into suitable homes.

Kern CTTC works with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to place desert tortoises and other turtle and tortoise species. If you have an interest in adopting, have an animal that needs to placed in a new home, or have questions about CTTC's Adoption Program, feel free to contact our Adoption Chair. You can also attend our virtual monthly meeting as membership is not required.

CTTC works with California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to place desert tortoises. Both CDFW and CTTC discourage the captive breeding of desert tortoises. Under federal and state laws it is illegal to buy, sell, take or harm desert tortoises in California, or to move them out of the State. By agreement with the CDFW, Chapter Adoption Chairs serve as volunteer representatives for the Department for the relocation of desert tortoises. They also help to maintain the data base of captive desert tortoises, and process and issue the permits and registration materials for CDFW's "Permit to Possess Gopherus Tortoises" program.

The program was designed to allow the legal possession of a protected species (i.e., the desert tortoise) which has a large captive population but is threatened in the wild, and thus to discourage illegal taking and abandonment of wild tortoises. CTTC Adoption Chairs require would be desert tortoise adoptees to complete the CDFG Permit Application when they receive a tortoise so that all desert tortoises placed by CTTC are tagged. If you already possess a desert tortoise and need a permit application, please e-mail your closest CTTC Chapter.

California Turtle & Tortoise Club finds suitable homes for many other exotic and native turtle and tortoise species. For example, the CTTC placed 382 desert tortoises and 686 other turtles and tortoises throughout California. CTTC members systematically humanely trap and remove exotic turtles from local waterways to reduce competition and help with the survival of small native populations. These non-native species are placed in foster or forever homes.

If you need to find a new home for your turtle or tortoise, please download the Kern County Relinquishment Form, fill it out completely, scan it, and email it to the address at the top of the page.