Too be honest, I made sure my post was a little harsh (I usually am more diplomatic online than in person). Inquiring about doing something illegal by posting it on a public forum is simply asking for all sorts of trouble if the authorities read about it and then follow up. Smuggling live animals have all sorts of negative consequences that the OP probably never considered. I think its a case of opening his eyes to what could happen to him for even posting about this.
I know for a fact that many employers do online background checks of applicants' social media and online postings, either hire specialty services or do it in-house. It would not be hard to figure out the real name, address, etc. of any poster who posts questionable things about highly illegal activities. What people post online, on social media, on Twitter, etc. can turn around and bite them in the butt later on when they are trying to apply for a job, run for office, or something totally unrelated.
As I explained and April confirmed, we have forum members who are customs officers, RCMP officers, etc. One of my best friends is in the RCMP. We do not encourage postings about illegal activities on this site, it is a family-oriented site after all.
A wake-up call was called for and that's what I hope happened. Not just for the OP but for other people who have read and followed this thread.
And seriously, if people had posted "Yeah, go for it. Just stick that illegal and most likely endangered turtle in a sock and smuggle it in. You won't get caught.", the OP would not have seriously considered doing just that? Basically, it read like he wanted confirmation that he should do this and would get away with it.
Here are his exact words "Anyways, I'm wondering what my chances/consequences are of smuggling one back home?
Like if I were to wrap one up tightly in one of my socks in my checked baggage... But yeah, you're right, it's not worth getting caught over. But this was a rare turtle... in canada anyways."
From his own words, it sounds very much like he was seriously contemplating doing this, if he had confirmation/encouragement from other BCA members that this is possible. I saw it as our duty to disabuse him of this notion and make sure he's aware of the very negative consequences if he is caught smuggling a "rare" and illegal turtle. Yes, some of the words and posts sounded quite harsh. Hard to convince someone to not do something illegal that they are very tempted to do if you treat him with "kid's gloves" and sugar-coat your words.
