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Turtle Rescue’s Donna Moot (Image: Archi Banal)
Turtle Rescue’s Donna Moot (Image: Archi Banal)

SocietyNovember 25, 2023

Meet Christchurch’s legendary turtle rescuer

Turtle Rescue’s Donna Moot (Image: Archi Banal)
Turtle Rescue’s Donna Moot (Image: Archi Banal)

When there’s a loose turtle in your neighbourhood, who you gonna call?

When the big quake hit Christchurch in February 2011, Donna Moot was in her Somerfield garage unloading a big delivery of turtle food. The garage door slammed shut, plunging her into pitch darkness as she was thrown to the ground, dozens of turtle tanks buckling, cracking and shattering around her. Outside, huge waves left her ponds half empty. Inside her house, more tanks exploded, turtles spilling onto the floor or becoming trapped between broken bits of glass. 

With no running water and her neighbour’s collapsed chimney blocking the driveway, Moot had only one option to keep her 48 rescue turtles alive. She lugged enormous containers down to the nearby school on Selwyn Street to fill them with water and drag them all the way back home. On the floor of her lounge, the turtles sat wrapped in towels inside plastic storage bins, each taking turns through the day and night to have some precious time in the water.

“It was horrific,” she recalls. “Just an awful, awful time.” While she struggled to keep her existing cohort of turtles alive, the days following the quake also saw an enormous influx of pet turtles surrendered to her front door. “I ended up with people on my doorstep saying ‘I’ve got nothing – my house is gone and I’ve got the kids in the car and our turtles are in a box, can you help us?’” she says, blinking away tears. “It still makes me cry just thinking about it.” 

Some of Donna’s turtles in February, 2011

Mozzie, a 46 year-old long-necked turtle, was one of those quake surrenders. He stares out from his tank, face plastered with a perpetual dopey grin, as Moot excuses herself to take a turtle-based phone call. Whether it’s people needing a temporary home for their turtles, families looking to adopt or owners simply needing advice, Moot happily fields inquiries all hours of the day. “No worries, see you 7.30 tonight,” she says, hanging up. “That’s my life”. 

Working by day in community mental health, Moot is also the sole operator of Turtle Rescue, the longest-running and most well-known turtle rescue organisation in the country. For the last 16 years, she estimates she has had well over 1,000 turtles come through her door. On the day I visit, she’s got 75 turtles in residence. “OUR TURTLES AND OUR CAMERAS ARE WATCHING YOU!” a sign reads at the gate. “DROP OFFS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY.” 

“Watch, they do bite,” she warns as I peer through some pond weed, catching a glimpse of a reptilian head gliding beneath the surface. Just last week, Moot had the end of her thumb “nipped off” by a turtle visitor. “There was a lot of blood” she says cheerily, waving a plastered digit in the air. Honey, her Chinese Crested / Pomeranian cross, had a similar experience when a turtle bit a chunk out of her nose pondside. “Thankfully that’s put her right off.” 

An Australian painted turtle smiles for the camera. Image: Alex Casey

Despite the injuries, Moot’s love of turtles has spanned a half century, beginning when she travelled to Singapore as a teenager. “Everywhere I went, there were turtles. They were in so many gardens, just basking and swimming, and I found it all quite therapeutic.” The first turtle she ever purchased was Rocky, now 38 years old, who chills in a raised pond along the driveway. Next to him lurks a diva female, brought back to the rescue after she started “bullying” the turtles at her new home. 

That’s just one of the dramatic backstories that have led to turtles being in Moot’s care – she’s seen everything from dog bites to car accidents, dumpings to walkabouts, marriage breakups to family tragedies. Her garage is lined with tanks which serve as a toasty winter chalet for the turtles when temperatures plummet. “Here’s a nice little boy, Frankie,” she says, gesturing to a sweet, shy shape in the corner. “I’ve had about three different families come in and say ‘yes, yes, we’ll adopt them’. And then you never hear from them again, which is quite sad.” 

It’s normal for turtles to stay with her for over five years before they find a new home. “People don’t realise they can live for 50-odd years” she explains. “So many people contact me because their four-year-old wants a turtle. I have to ask them, ‘when little four-year-old Johnny is 54, is he still going to want that turtle?’” There’s also the upkeep – tanks must be at least four feet long, the water needs to be changed weekly, and females need a pond for laying eggs. Moot is well-versed in her spiel, and won’t adopt out to anyone who doesn’t have the right facilities.

Long necks, don’t care. Image: Alex Casey

Indeed, Moot’s turtle knowledge seems unsurpassed. We sit back in the sun among a veritable United Nations of turtles – American red eared sliders, Australian longnecks, Asian Reeves – as she shares some things she has learnt over her years of turtle ownership. Turns out there’s only one correct way to pack a turtle for transport (“towel, turtle, towel”), one method of removal when a turtle latches onto your flesh (“run cold water on their head and they eventually let go”) and one way to do turtle CPR (“pump the front legs really fast”). 

As well as the surrenders, many of Moot’s rescues have been found in waterways, or wandering the dusty rural roads of Canterbury. “Turtles are real escape artists. People don’t realise they move fast. They put them on the lawn for a bit of sun, which is lovely, but then they run and answer the phone and when they come back the turtle is gone.” She holds up Tootles, who was found strolling a shingle road in Woodend after almost being run over by a horse float.

Although they only entered the New Zealand pet trade in the late 1950s, Moot says it hasn’t taken long for turtles to have a serious impact on our environment. The Red Eared Slider in particular is one of the most noxious turtles, and has been listed as one of the world’s 100 worst invasive species. “In the egg-laying season, they could lay up to 17-20 eggs every three to four weeks,” she explains. “You see why breeders love them.” 

A RES heads for the water. Image: Alex Casey

The problems arise when they make it into the wild. “These guys have a really strong mouth, they can absolutely kill,” says Moot. “And they will do anything to survive.” Turtles can easily drag wading birds into the water, steal eggs from native nests and, in some instances, even devour household pets. Amber, a turtle found in the Amberley river, passed grey fur for days upon arrival at Moot’s. “It was either a rabbit or a cat,” she muses. “It was certainly not a rat.” 

Due to their impact on the environment, Auckland Council banned the sale of the species last year in an attempt to control the population and stop them being dumped in lakes such as Western Springs Park. In Christchurch, Moot has had a huge influence in ending the sale of turtles in pet stores such as Animates, PetStock and Redwood Aquatics. “Now when people come in wanting a turtle, they all say ‘well, have you been to Donna?’” she laughs. 

While these are positive steps, Moot wants to see the sale of turtles on online platforms like Trade Me banned entirely. “There’s just not enough information going out with them,” she says. “You’ve got breeders who sell them for $38, pop them in the post and send them all over the country. Once that turtle is out the door, that’s it gone. That breeder doesn’t see these turtles that come in here year in, year out, in horrific condition due to people not having all the information they need.” 

She introduces me to Darcy, a 16-year-old Red Eared Slider, who flails around in circles on his side in a tank in her lounge. “He only has one lung because he was kept in a frog tank for the first three years of his life,” says Moot. “Humans did that to him.” People have dumped their turtles without warning at her gate, in her garage, even in her conservatory on a steaming hot day, but Moot tries to never let her emotions get in the way.  “I work really hard on not being judgmental. Educating people to make better decisions is much better than telling them off.”

Darcy the turtle swims on his side. Image: Alex Casey

Despite her power bills sometimes soaring over $1,000 a month, and a slow adoption rate of only a few dozen turtles a year for $20 per turtle, 63-year-old Moot doesn’t have any plans to retire her turtle rescuing duties anytime soon. “Physically, I have got some quite significant pain, osteoarthritis and stuff, which makes it harder to do this, but I still love it.” Although she spends her days working with traumatised people in the community, she says those who seek out Turtle Rescue have often experienced hardship too. 

“You know, that turtle could be arriving at my door because someone committed suicide and it was their turtle, or the kids have finally left home, or there’s been a marriage breakup, or someone is going through treatment for cancer,” she says. “There’s so many stories like that and, as long as I can help these people, I intend to keep doing this as long as I can.” She has a saying to remind herself who she is helping: “those turtles don’t walk up my drive on their own.” 

Our interview is again interrupted by a knock at the door – two women from Oamaru have arrived to adopt a couple of Donna’s turtles. They work with animals, but I watch as Moot patiently, gently, carefully takes them through her entire turtle care spiel (towel, turtle, towel) before waving goodbye to Jemima and Lulu as they depart for their new home down South. “That feels really good,” she beams, closing the door. “Two gone, many more to go.”

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Gabi Lardies
— Staff writer
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Two protesters in the picket at Ports of Auckland on 23 November 2023.
Two protesters in the picket at Ports of Auckland on 23 November 2023.

SocietyNovember 24, 2023

BDS: The connection between yesterday’s port picket and the 1981 Springbok tour

Two protesters in the picket at Ports of Auckland on 23 November 2023.
Two protesters in the picket at Ports of Auckland on 23 November 2023.

An Israeli-owned cargo ship attracted protesters as it docked at the Ports of Auckland this week. Here’s why.

About 50 people waved Palestinian flags and protest placards at the corner of Tamaki Drive and Solent Street near Auckland’s waterfront yesterday afternoon. A handful had arrived by pram or papoose, and many more were tertiary students. Behind them port machinery moved and stacked containers of ships, one of them the MSC TANIA, a vessel owned and operated by ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, a publicly held Israeli company.

Members of the groups behind the protest, Action 4 Palestine and Working Students of Aotearoa, had read about the protests against ZIM ships in Sydney, and it got them thinking. It wasn’t long before they found that ZIM has schedules of all its lines on its website, so they could know when to expect their arrival in New Zealand’s ports.

Images promoting the picket were made public on Wednesday afternoon. “Come when you can,” read the invitation, encouraging people to come after work. But between 5 and 6pm, the protesters were forcibly removed by police. Some had shifted from the corner to sitting across Solent Street, blocking the entry and exit to the port. Six were arrested: five for obstruction, and one for disorderly behaviour. Underneath videos of the clash on Instagram, people have commented alleging the police were using unnecessary force. They also used pepper spray.

Their call for sanctions of Israeli goods fits into a global movement called BDS. Those three letters are echoing through rallies across the country, where they are followed by “Boycott! Divest! Sanction!” On social media collages of company logos are being shared alongside the phrase. But what does it all mean? 

A placard at the picket at Ports of Auckland on November 23, 2023 (Photo: Gabi Lardies)

What’s BDS?

BDS stands for boycott, divest and sanction. It’s a call for people, companies and governments around the world to stop financially supporting Israel by boycotting their products, removing financial investments and imposing sanctions on trade. In doing so, the movement hopes to put non-violent pressure on Israel until a list of demands is met. 

On the BDS website, there are just three demands: ending the Israeli occupation, recognising the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel as equal, and respecting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes. Events like yesterday’s picket also call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

What is being BDS-ed?

Because a complete list of companies complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of – and now war against – Palestine would be devastatingly long, the leaders of the BDS movement are narrowing the focus to a smaller number of companies and products for consumers to boycott

In Aotearoa, they’re pointing to Israeli-owned brands SodaStream, Axa (insurance), Puma, Siemens (technology), Ahava (beauty products), and HP (printers and stuff), as well as companies supporting Israel like McDonald’s, Domino’s Pizza, and Burger King, for franchises giving free food to the Israeli army, Pizza Hut because it is owned by Yum Brands which supports Israeli startups, Starbucks for suing its union after they expressed solidarity with Palestinians on X, and Disney+ for donating millions of dollars to “humanitarian efforts” in Israel. It’s safe to say many activists will be eating healthy and going without Baby Yoda.

BDS stickering in New Zealand supermarkets, November 2023 (Photo:Supplied).

Stickers have been appearing on products like Obela hummus and Dove soap in supermarket aisles, quietly stuck on by activists who know that many people won’t be reading the small print on their groceries.

In addition, people are looking into where their investments, like KiwiSaver, are going. This can be a tricky and convoluted process, so online tools like Mindful Money are being used to check funds and divest accordingly. 

The final letter, S for sanctions, requires government action. Actions like yesterday’s picket aim to put pressure on the government to act, as well as to inform the average person who can B and D.

Where did the BDS movement come from?

According to the website, BDS was launched in 2005 by 170 Palestinian unions, refugee networks, women’s organisations, professional associations, popular resistance committees and other Palestinian civil society bodies.

It was inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement which grew out of the boycott movement, and was enacted by localised groups across the world. Consumer boycotting was a constant element in the fight against apartheid from outside of South Africa, as were campaigns against the investments of international banks and companies in South Africa. The movement aimed to isolate South Africa by lobbying for exclusion from sporting and cultural events, and ending military and diplomatic links. People sometimes partly attribute the end of apartheid in South Africa to the external pressure this caused.

Brawling between protesters and rugby fans on Sandringham Rd, Auckland, in 1981 (Photo: Alexander Turnbull Library)

In New Zealand, that movement came to a head during the 1981 Springbok tour. Though it divided the country at the time, most of us now look back on the pitch invasions, flour bombs, patu and shields with pride. The protests have become part of our national identity as people who stand up for human rights.

Arguments against BDS

Some worry that BDS will impact all Israelis, regardless of whether they themselves agree with the state’s actions. This is why excluding Israeli cultural and academic figures has mostly been avoided. There have also been allegations of antisemitism. 

Others say that the current focus should urgently be on calling for a ceasefire rather than trying to impact Israel’s economy.

Does BDS work?

There have been some high-profile companies like Ben & Jerry’s that have stopped selling their products in the occupied territories, and others that have changed their production operations, like SodaStream moving its West Bank factory in 2014. Still, the Israeli economy chugged on and so did the occupation. In 2018 Israelis were deprived of a Lorde performance following a public campaign against the concert.

The impact the BDS movement could have on Israel’s economy and actions is contested. But it is at least something that people who live on small isles on the other side of the world from the conflict can do.

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