Interspecies.com

05/27/2026

05/25/2026

05/21/2026

Honoring Sarge

Last night, my heart broke. We lost a true ancient giant of our local waters.

Yesterday, I received a call from the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Office about a massive, 28.5-pound Common Snapping Turtle who had been struck by a car. The injuries were severe—a bridge fracture, several carapace fractures, and a shearing injury across the top of his shell. We estimate this big old man was around 70 years old.

In an incredible act of compassion, the officers drove all the way to my workplace to hand him over to my care. The department asked if we could name him Sarge (short for Sergeant), a fittingly strong name for such a resilient survivor. I brought him straight home to stabilize him, starting him immediately on pain medications and IV fluids to combat severe dehydration from the mid-May heat. I promised him I would introduce him to all of you last night, but instead, I chose to step away from my phone to spend every moment focused on keeping him comfortable and fighting for him.

Sadly, Sarge passed away last night.
I am devastated, but I am infinitely grateful to the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Office. To see law enforcement go so far out of their way to protect and care for our native wildlife means the world. It takes a community to protect these animals, and their kindness is something I won't forget.

This photo is of me holding Sarge's giant hand, Look at the scale of him. He survived seven decades of changes in this world, only to be taken out by a car.

We are officially entering nesting season. Female turtles are on the move to lay their eggs. Just yesterday, I transferred another gravid female to my wonderful friend Melissa at My Little Turtle Rescue, and right as I was leaving work, I got a call about another female snapping turtle on Lebanon Ave in Pittsfield. She was completely destroyed in a school zone, all of her precious egg squashed, it's a small neighborhood where people simply fly down the road.

It is heartbreaking. The loss we are seeing already this season—and every year prior—is completely preventable.

Please, please be aware of the roads. Turtles are slow-moving. Snapping turtles can look like debris or a large stone from a distance. If you wouldn't intentionally hit a giant rock in the road, why would you hit a giant turtle?

Rest easy, Sarge. You were deeply loved in your final hours, and we will keep fighting to protect the rest of your kind. 🐢💚

05/19/2026

05/18/2026

Look at this shore. What was once a place of life, of waves, of wonder — has become a graveyard. Hundreds of pilot whales, stranded, breathless, their massive bodies scattered across the sand like a cry the ocean can no longer hold inside. These are not just animals. These are sentient beings — creatures that sing to each other, that grieve their dead, that travel thousands of miles as families. And today, they lie here, silent. The sea that raised them could not save them. The ocean is suffocating — poisoned by noise pollution, sonar, plastic, and climate collapse. These whales didn't choose this shore. They were driven here — confused, disoriented, betrayed by a world we broke. So before you scroll past this image, ask yourself one question — Who is responsible for this? And what are we willing to do before the last whale touches the shore for the very last time?
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