That's not just animal rights hyperbole, according to wildlife inspector Joe Ventura of the Fish and Wildlife Service, who works the Port of Los Angeles. Turtles destined for the pet trade are often shipped in cardboard boxes that get crushed when cargo shifts, and it's not unusual to see these boxes soaked with blood. There was much blood, many broken carapaces, and dozens of missing legs. About 50 females carried broken eggs. But I also believe that the continued shipping of turtles into the U.S. in the present unregulated state is pure consumer fraud.
Stress kills turtles.
Even if an animal survives, the damage has been done, and it's only a matter of time until it dies. In fact, we forced them to put in some humane standards back in the early 1970s. You don't condemn a whole activity by an isolated shipment. Dogs have disease, too. Dogs run free.