Save a turtle’s life, and perhaps even your child’s

Susan Tellem, an RN and Co-founder and Executive Director of American Tortoise Rescue in Malibu, CA joins eHealth Radio and the Animal Health and News Channels. American Tortoise Rescue is a 24 year old nonprofit that is dedicated to the protection of turtles and tortoises worldwide.
Listen to interview with host Eric Michaels and guest Susan Tellem discuss the following:

• This month children will be enjoying another new edition of the extremely popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.  That’s a lot of kids seeing the movie who might demand that their parents buy them a live turtle.  So what’s the problem?
• Parents, trying to please their children, purchase live turtles which end up languishing in tanks.  That is a sad existence for a turtle.  But there is a bigger problem…salmonella.
• Turtles carry salmonella which can make a child, the elderly and those who are immune suppressed very, very sick and can even kill them.  Are there laws banning the sale of turtles?
• What are the symptoms of salmonella?
• What are your recommendations for parents whose kids want them to buy a turtle?

Duration: 13:11
Susan Tellem, RN, co-founded American Tortoise Rescue (ATR) in Malibu with her husband, Marshall Thompson, almost 25 years ago.  ATR is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) corporation founded to provide protection of all turtles and tortoises. ATR has provided sanctuary to abandoned tortoises, as well as those that are confiscated from law enforcement. ATR has adopted more than 3,000 turtles to forever homes.
Susan is also a partner in Tellem Grody PRde, Inc. a PR agency specializing in healthcare, social media, entertainment and animals. She graduated from Mount St. Mary’s College with a BS in nursing and studied PR at UCLA where she was an extension instructor for more than 11 years. She also served as an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University.
Susan is a LAPD Reserve Officer Specialist (ret.), a four-year member of the Malibu Public Safety Commission, a voting member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and a member of Malibu’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Tellem has four adult children and shares her Malibu home with sheep, goats, cats, chickens and 120 turtles and tortoises.

Web Site: www.tortoise.com
Facebook: AmericanTortoiseRescue | WorldTurtleDay
Twitter: @tortoiserescue