Turtle

[Katie]

I have a baby painted turtle in a little carry on cage with no water just sand wet, and I relly want to know if I can carry my pet write by my side the train ride , it has 100% no chance of escaping. Plz tell me I can bring him

 

[JoeBas]

No.

 

[the_traveler]

This forum is not in anyway affiated with Amtrak. We can only provide our views, but they are not "the official word" in any way, shape or form.

Amtrak's policy is no pets of any kind, except service animals. Depending on how big the cage is (like would it fit into a carry on bag), if you're in coach or sleeper (sleeper could be easier) and if it could pass as a seeing eye turtle

, it may. But I personally would say 99.99% no!

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

No animals on Amtrak that are not totally neccessary! No, no, no! :excl: Just because you like it dosen't mean you must have it to live!

 

[rusty spike]

If your little carry-on cage can be put in a little carry-on bag and your little baby painted turtle doesn't bark, meow, or create a nusance, then I don't suspect anyone would know or care. JMO :hi:

 

[Anthony]

No comfort animals on Amtrak! No, no, no! :excl:

How do you know that this person's pet is a so-called "comfort animal"? An animal that is not a service animal is not automatically therefore a comfort animal.

 

[George Harris]

Put it in something that does not look like a cage, but just a bag of some kind that you can, if in coach, put under your feet or overhead rack, I would have at it. I would consider under your feet or on the seat beside you if it is unoccupied because you do no want somebody elst to throw a bag on top of it or scrunch it up. As said, in sleeper it will be really easy to get away with it and not worry about anything happening to the little critter, either.

Yes I am suggesting how somebody can get away with breaking a rule, but I see this as a "no harm, no foul" situation.

 

[johnny.menhennet]

Put it in something that does not look like a cage, but just a bag of some kind that you can, if in coach, put under your feet or overhead rack, I would have at it. I would consider under your feet or on the seat beside you if it is unoccupied because you do no want somebody elst to throw a bag on top of it or scrunch it up. As said, in sleeper it will be really easy to get away with it and not worry about anything happening to the little critter, either.

Yes I am suggesting how somebody can get away with breaking a rule, but I see this as a "no harm, no foul" situation.

Agreed.

If you are not stupid, you can make this work and you will get to bring your turtle. I can safely say that I believe you that the turtle can't escape the cage

Go ahead and try it nbd IMO.

 

[pennyk]

Put it in something that does not look like a cage, but just a bag of some kind that you can, if in coach, put under your feet or overhead rack, I would have at it. I would consider under your feet or on the seat beside you if it is unoccupied because you do no want somebody elst to throw a bag on top of it or scrunch it up. As said, in sleeper it will be really easy to get away with it and not worry about anything happening to the little critter, either.

Yes I am suggesting how somebody can get away with breaking a rule, but I see this as a "no harm, no foul" situation.

Agreed.

If you are not stupid, you can make this work and you will get to bring your turtle. I can safely say that I believe you that the turtle can't escape the cage

Go ahead and try it nbd IMO.

I disagree. We should not be encouraging anyone to violate the rules.

 

[GG-1]

Aloha

I am amused by the amount of time people today spend on trying to "break" the rules. How about spending just half of that time to change rules that don't make sense. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Put it in something that does not look like a cage, but just a bag of some kind that you can, if in coach, put under your feet or overhead rack, I would have at it. I would consider under your feet or on the seat beside you if it is unoccupied because you do no want somebody elst to throw a bag on top of it or scrunch it up. As said, in sleeper it will be really easy to get away with it and not worry about anything happening to the little critter, either. Yes I am suggesting how somebody can get away with breaking a rule, but I see this as a "no harm, no foul" situation.

Agreed. If you are not stupid, you can make this work and you will get to bring your turtle. I can safely say that I believe you that the turtle can't escape the cage

Go ahead and try it nbd IMO.

I disagree. We should not be encouraging anyone to violate the rules.

Why not? In an era when even something as minor and mundane as handing food to a homeless person can be against the law I see little value in blind obedience. Amtrak has chosen a hardline policy with zero tolerance and no exceptions. We're simply adding some much needed nuance to the situation. That doesn't mean we're advocating people turn Amtrak into a petting zoo.

I am amused by the amount of time people today spend on trying to "break" the rules. How about spending just half of that time to change rules that don't make sense. Just my 2 cents.

That argument would carry a lot more weight if you could include which specific rules passengers have managed to successfully lobby Amtrak to change in the past.

 

[Anderson]

Aloha

I am amused by the amount of time people today spend on trying to "break" the rules. How about spending just half of that time to change rules that don't make sense. Just my 2 cents.

Because sometimes either:

A) The blanket rule makes sense but there are exceptions that would also make sense in context but that are too hard to get adopted; or

B) Organizations can be exceedingly resistant to change (for reasons that can vary from sensible to absurd), and the odds of actually getting a rule fixed even with more effort are low enough that it's simply easier to try and work around them.

In other words, at least on an individual basis it is easier to throw together a quick fix than it is to spend a long time dealing with the existing rules while hoping (likely in vain) to succeed in changing them. Workarounds are easier, and far more likely to show some sort of short-term benefit.

 

[the_traveler]

I respectfully disagree with Pennyk and GG-1. Yes we are helping to "break the rules", but the same can be said about encouraging someone to drive 26 mph in a 25 mph zone! It's not like she was tying to bring a lion or tiger on board. I bet if you looked in everyone's carry-on, I think you will find someone with contraband. Why do Police dogs sometimes walk thru the train. Maybe they are looking for turtles or cans of beer not sold by Amtrak, but my guess is they are more likely searching for drugs!

 

[Naismith]

I have a baby painted turtle in a little carry on cage with no water just sand wet, and I relly want to know if I can carry my pet write by my side the train ride , it has 100% no chance of escaping. Plz tell me I can bring him

The Centers for Disease Control has an advisory about pet turtles causing Salmonella infections:

http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/spotlight_an_turtles.htm

The advisory notes that susceptible individuals may acquire fatal infections.

 

[fairviewroad]

We don't know how long the OP's trip is going to be. Some of these suggestions may be entirely appropriate for a 5 or 6 hour trip...not so much for a

3-day cross-country journey. I'm really no expert on turtle care...but I'm guessing most of us aren't. But I'm wondering if stuffing the turtle into an enclosed

bag for several days may not be the best idea from the turtle's standpoint. But again, for a short trip it's probably fine.

 

[JoeBas]

I respectfully disagree with Pennyk and GG-1. Yes we are helping to "break the rules", but the same can be said about encouraging someone to drive 26 mph in a 25 mph zone! It's not like she was tying to bring a lion or tiger on board. I bet if you looked in everyone's carry-on, I think you will find someone with contraband. Why do Police dogs sometimes walk thru the train. Maybe they are looking for turtles or cans of beer not sold by Amtrak, but my guess is they are more likely searching for drugs!

Encouraging this individual to break the rules is irresponsible, IMHO.

Judging by grammar and syntax, this seems (to me) to be a tween-ish individual who REALLY REALLY REALLY wants to bring her turtle on her trip, rather than bear the thought of being away from the turtle for a week or two while a friend/relative cares for it.

Firstly, it's a good growth experience for such individuals to experience some separation and grow from the experience.

Secondly, if a hard-ass employee finds the turtle, and decides to enforce the existing policy, the individual will be faced with a NUMBER of unattractive alternatives (unboarding with the animal with some or all of her family, costing hundreds of dollars they may not be able to afford, or abandoning said animal, etc), all because she couldn't BEAR the thought of being away from pokey poo for a week.

Responsibility... pass it on.

 

[ArchBishop]

I kinda liked the idea of putting the turtle into a bag, but upon further consideration, what happens if another passenger sees the bag and the turtle is making some kind of movement, I could see someone freaking out and getting the conductor involved and all of them thinking it's like a snake or bomb or something and everything getting way out of whack.

I think it would be better to follow the no pet policy.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I respectfully disagree with Pennyk and GG-1. Yes we are helping to "break the rules", but the same can be said about encouraging someone to drive 26 mph in a 25 mph zone! It's not like she was tying to bring a lion or tiger on board. I bet if you looked in everyone's carry-on, I think you will find someone with contraband. Why do Police dogs sometimes walk thru the train. Maybe they are looking for turtles or cans of beer not sold by Amtrak, but my guess is they are more likely searching for drugs!

Encouraging this individual to break the rules is irresponsible, IMHO.

Judging by grammar and syntax, this seems (to me) to be a tween-ish individual who REALLY REALLY REALLY wants to bring her turtle on her trip, rather than bear the thought of being away from the turtle for a week or two while a friend/relative cares for it.

Firstly, it's a good growth experience for such individuals to experience some separation and grow from the experience.

Secondly, if a hard-ass employee finds the turtle, and decides to enforce the existing policy, the individual will be faced with a NUMBER of unattractive alternatives (unboarding with the animal with some or all of her family, costing hundreds of dollars they may not be able to afford, or abandoning said animal, etc), all because she couldn't BEAR the thought of being away from pokey poo for a week.

Responsibility... pass it on.

Perhaps she's moving to a new location and the train in the only option for getting from her current home to her new home. And I doubt she can ship her turtle by any other means.

 

[Guest]

As of 2010, most U.S. states allow, but discourage, painted turtle pets, although Oregon forbids keeping them as pets, and Indiana prohibits their sale. U.S. federal law prohibits sale or transport of any turtle less than 10 cm (4 in), to limit human contact to salmonella.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

The Centers for Disease Control has an advisory about pet turtles causing Salmonella infections: http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/spotlight_an_turtles.htm The advisory notes that susceptible individuals may acquire fatal infections.

I don't think anyone is recommending allowing contact between the turtle and others.

Encouraging this individual to break the rules is irresponsible, IMHO.

I'd say it's no less responsible than than the zero tolerance no exceptions policy that spawned it.

I kinda liked the idea of putting the turtle into a bag, but upon further consideration, what happens if another passenger sees the bag and the turtle is making some kind of movement, I could see someone freaking out and getting the conductor involved and all of them thinking it's like a snake or bomb or something and everything getting way out of whack. I think it would be better to follow the no pet policy.

Maybe a society this scared and fearful could benefit from a few non-destructive surprises once in a while in order to help reset our hypersensitive freak-out meters.

 

[JoeBas]

I'm not disagreeing with you on the inanity of zero tolerance rules, merely stating that if you decide to arbitrarily break them you'd better be willing to pay the price.

 

[Guest]

I don't think Amtrak's pet policy is unjustified.

Many people have moderate or very severe allergies to different animals, so limiting their transport in passenger compartments seems like a rule that's meant to keep most passengers comfortable, just like banning smoking onboard.

Larger pets, such as dogs, need to be exercised and taken outside to relieve themselves. Who would be in charge of cleaning up after them (or making sure their owners do) at extended station stops?

If dogs, cats and turtles are allowed, then where do you draw the line? Do you allow birds, snakes, skunks, bats, mice, paper-trained dogs with owners who will lay their papers in the aisle next to you?

I enjoy animals and volunteer, when I can, to take care of friends animals when they travel. I do not have my own pet because I like to travel frequently.

 

[Naismith]

The Centers for Disease Control has an advisory about pet turtles causing Salmonella infections: http://www.cdc.gov/h..._an_turtles.htm The advisory notes that susceptible individuals may acquire fatal infections.

I don't think anyone is recommending allowing contact between the turtle and others.

In the advisory it includes contact with cages or where cages have been.

Encouraging this individual to break the rules is irresponsible, IMHO.

I'd say it's no less responsible than than the zero tolerance no exceptions policy that spawned it.

I kinda liked the idea of putting the turtle into a bag, but upon further consideration, what happens if another passenger sees the bag and the turtle is making some kind of movement, I could see someone freaking out and getting the conductor involved and all of them thinking it's like a snake or bomb or something and everything getting way out of whack. I think it would be better to follow the no pet policy.

Maybe a society this scared and fearful could benefit from a few non-destructive surprises once in a while in order to help reset our hypersensitive freak-out meters.

In the advisory it includes contact with cages or where cages have been.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Put it in something that does not look like a cage, but just a bag of some kind that you can, if in coach, put under your feet or overhead rack, I would have at it. I would consider under your feet or on the seat beside you if it is unoccupied because you do no want somebody elst to throw a bag on top of it or scrunch it up. As said, in sleeper it will be really easy to get away with it and not worry about anything happening to the little critter, either.

Yes I am suggesting how somebody can get away with breaking a rule, but I see this as a "no harm, no foul" situation.

Agreed.

If you are not stupid, you can make this work and you will get to bring your turtle. I can safely say that I believe you that the turtle can't escape the cage

Go ahead and try it nbd IMO.

I disagree. We should not be encouraging anyone to violate the rules.

I don't think Amtrak's pet policy is unjustified.

Many people have moderate or very severe allergies to different animals, so limiting their transport in passenger compartments seems like a rule that's meant to keep most passengers comfortable, just like banning smoking onboard.

Larger pets, such as dogs, need to be exercised and taken outside to relieve themselves. Who would be in charge of cleaning up after them (or making sure their owners do) at extended station stops?

If dogs, cats and turtles are allowed, then where do you draw the line? Do you allow birds, snakes, skunks, bats, mice, paper-trained dogs with owners who will lay their papers in the aisle next to you?

I enjoy animals and volunteer, when I can, to take care of friends animals when they travel. I do not have my own pet because I like to travel frequently.

I agree with Penny and our guest. Another thing is that if you have a tendency to break rules, you might break other rules that will affect all people, on the train or somewhere else. As said, this turtle could affect some people, not all, but that's at least something.

 

[George Harris]

I agree with Penny and our guest. Another thing is that if you have a tendency to break rules, you might break other rules that will affect all people, on the train or somewhere else. As said, this turtle could affect some people, not all, but that's at least something.

Taht is why we were given a brain. To reason out and decide whether or not blind obedience to a rule was the thing to do or the right thing in a situation was to bend or break a perticular rule. If you have someone with you in urgent need to get to a hospitial do you obey all the speed limits? I don't think so. I know that is an extreme example, but so be it.