ok point being i need the legal doctrine(sp?) that states its a federal law to illegally possess and sell turtles under 4inches. i know its illegal and theres this lfs that has them, the lfs store is notorius for selling illegal pets and sick pets... well i seen these little 1" "red ear sliders" in there the other day and id like the proof thats its illegal so i can report them... yes i know i could look it up myself but ive always been real bad with looking stuff up, +with the holidays in all i aint got the time. im really hoping yall can help me. thx

i googled and found this
http://aboxturtle.com/four_inch_law.htm

( Sales; general prohibition. Except as otherwise provided in this section, viable turtle eggs and live turtles with a carapace length of less than 4 inches shall not be sold, held for sale, or offered for any other type of commercial or public distribution.

from what i understand, the person selling them will ahve to destroy them!

CTTC - Federal "Four-inch" Regulations for turtles

The above link explains and has the section of the law you are refering to. However, the link underneath (question 10) shows a different side of it. It seems it's an FDA regulation and not so much a law, meaning that it's very easy for pet shop owners to simply claim the turtles aren't being sold as pets, and it's all ok. If however, you can convince the FDA that the turles are being sold illegally they will be destroyed.

Question 10: Isn't it against the law to sell turtles ...

When I was a kid turtle sales were legal. Then almost overnight it became illegal to sell small turtles due to salmonella being transmitted. They disappeared quickly from the stores. The small turtles were attractive to children that wanted a small pet and the kids didn't always remember to wash thoroughly when hangeling turtles and put their fingers in their mouths. You didn't see a turtle or a tortoise anywhere. I do think it's a shame that turtles found in stores being sold need to be destroyed though.

what's a bigger shame is that the vast majority of these cute little 2" turtles are red ear sliders, a messy species which will grow to 10" in diameter in just a few years. the housing sold with these baby turtles is horribly inadequate, not only for the adult size but even for the tiny turtles!

Not half as bad as all the pet stores that don't care about the health of their fish and the animal activists doing nothing about it

report a store treating dogs and cats bad and giving out faulty advice to the new owners and the store will be shut down. they don't give crap about fish though....