Wisconsin and several other states are taking action against stores that illegally sell red-eared sliders and other small turtles, according to published news reports.

The banned turtles have turned up in recent months at malls and gift shops in popular vacation spots in Wisconsin, Arizona, Kansas, South Carolina and Texas.

Wisconsin officials have moved against shops in half a dozen locations around the state and are working with federal officials to find the distributors, believed to be from several southern states.

Some Wisconsin stores reportedly were trying to circumvent the ban on sales by giving free turtles to customers who bought a tank and food. However, Food and Drug Administration regulations stipulate that the animals can be neither sold nor distributed, so the giveaways also are in violation, state authorities said.

The FDA banned selling turtles with shells shorter than 4 inches in 1975 to prevent the spread of salmonella. [October 2004 PET AGE]