Quote Originally Posted by d_virginiana View Post
The salmonella issue is actually the reason that a lot of people used to justify making selling any turtles/tortoises in NC illegal. There was a case where two teens got a severe case from swimming in a pool with their pet turtle. They don't try to illegalize chicken because one person thought they'd eat it half-raw; what is the sense in illegalizing all turtles because a couple people do stupid things with them?
NC isn't the only state with turtle laws. Here in CO you can't buy one under, I think, 4 inches. It has been proven that a not insignificant percentage of baby turtles in the pet trade carry salmonella. Still, I think it's a risk people should be allowed to take as long as they're informed about the issue. No pet is 100% safe, and people are still more likely to get salmonella from a bad restaurant than a pet turtle.

Tropical fish can carry tuberculosis, but nobody is banning them.