No. There is a law against "releasing any pet". It's an anti-cruelty law and carries a $1000 penalty. There is an additional law against releasing any animal or fish into public waters without permission from the WDFW and they do not give any permits to release non-native turtles into the wild because of the potential damage that could be done to endangered Western Pond Turtles. Neither of these are worth the risk. If you feel "stuck" with your turtle make your feelings known to stores that sell them. Easily, they mostly come from chain pet stores and many people say they were misinformed as to their care and adult size and needs. Keep in mind when you see the turtles in the lake that they are dumped pets. They were probably not born there but were dumped there by someone else in your position. Many are struggling to survive or actually suffering a slow death. We are certainly WAY outside their native zone. If you are struggling with a way to give your RES more space you can consider an outdoor pond made from a 300 gallon stock tank. There are many examples of safe outdoor pond setups on the internet. Some people need to help their turtles hibernate. Even though these were not things you anticipated being a turtle owner would entail, please consider doing it anyway. You can probably give your turtle a better home than we can get for it.

If you are interested in adopting an animal you need to start by joining the Seattle Turtle and Tortoise Club. Membership isn't required to adopt but members have preference over adoptions. Non Member Adoptions are at the sole discretion of the Adoption Chairholder.

To Join you can fill out an application and mail it in or you can join right here online today. Be sure to mention under comments that you're interested in adopting and which species you're interested in!

Do not show up at a meeting with an adoption animal without first contacting the Adoptions Chairholder!

Without prior knowledge of the situation there may not be anyone available to take the animal at the meeting.

If you have submitted a request to Adoptions and have not gotten a response yet, please understand that the need for our adoption service is currently larger than our adoption pool. Because of this there is often a long wait. If you feel your situation is an emergency, you can find additional contact information under Board Members on the About STTC tab.

If your turtle is a Red Eared Slider: these turtles are overmarketed and they need a special home which are few and far between. What would be ideal for them is a forever, indoor home in an indoor pond with continued human care. Most of them are adopted into outdoor koi ponds or sent to an out of state sanctuary. Neither of which is ideal for them as our climate is cold and only some will survive and sending them out of state improves their climate but not their liklihood to adapt to life hibernating in the winter. By the time they reach us they have been indoors for many years reducing their ability to acclimate. You will likly be asked to keep your turtle until sometime in the Spring when temperatures get warm enough to put them outdoors.

If you have an animal you want to surrender to Seattle Turtle and Tortoise Club as a Rescue to be placed in line for permanent Adoption, you must contact the Adoptions Chairholder via email to make the request at sttc.adoptions@gmail.com.

To avoid confusion we now request photos (at least 2 views) top and bottom (please try to include the tail in the photo) be submitted with your request for rescue so we can arrange proper facilities for the animal before its arrival.

If this is a difficult to place animal (i.e. a large Sulcata or a Red-Eared Slider) we may not be able to take the animal in right away. You may be asked to hold the animal while we try to find a suitable candidate, so plan ahead and make your request as soon as possible.

If the animal is sick or injured we suggest that you take it to a veterinarian before calling us. We simply can not afford to treat a sick animal for you. We can recommend a vet in your area or advise you on treating for a known condition but we can not take in a known sick animal that could jeopardize all of our turtles and tortoises that are awaiting adoptions as well as the personal pets of our fosterers.

If you are experiencing an emergency and need rapid placement of an animal you still must submit the request to Adoptions via email with photos but also include your emergency situation in the description. Feel free to place a comment here explaining your emergency after you have emailed Adoptions.