Charlie's Denver is pulling the plug on its turtle races after a May 30 Pride fundraiser turned into a public relations nightmare and a magnet for animal welfare complaints. A video from the event showed small turtles being sprayed with water and nudged along a tabletop course while a crowd shouted them on, a scene that quickly sparked outrage among local advocates and officials.
According to Westword, a since-deleted clip showed six tiny turtles on a table being doused with spray bottles and blocked from reaching a finish line. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals blasted the spectacle as “grossly inhumane,” and more than a dozen complaints were reportedly filed with Denver Animal Protection and the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Protection.
An employee initially told Denverite that “We're never hosting them again,” a promise the bar later backed up in an Instagram post stating it “will not host turtle racing events in the future.” The outlet reported that the turtles were privately owned, farm-raised pets belonging to a member of the Colorado Gay Rodeo Association and that they were returned home after the fundraiser.
State review and licensing questions
Under the Colorado Department of Agriculture's Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act, or PACFA, any facility that uses pet animals for “commercial exhibition, recreation, or sporting purposes” may need a license and can be subject to inspection. The Colorado Department of Agriculture outlines the program’s enforcement tools. Westword reports that a department spokesperson said PACFA could start with a cease-and-desist order for unlicensed operations and then pursue penalties or injunctions if the conduct continued.
Health concerns and city response
The Denver Department of Public Health & Environment reached out to Charlie's about a potential health code complaint tied to the May 30 race and soon saw a surge of animal welfare reports, Denverite reports. Animal protection lieutenant Josh Rolfe told the outlet that investigators did not find evidence of violations of the city's animal welfare ordinance, but said the bar was instructed not to bring turtles inside again. He noted that an indoor violation would trigger a warning.
What the law says
Colorado law makes it unlawful to possess turtles with a carapace, or shell, length of less than four inches except in narrow breeding circumstances, a detail that could factor into any future enforcement. The statute is available on Justia. PACFA's licensing rules and inspection powers give regulators a range of remedies, including warnings, cease-and-desist orders, and court action, while they complete their review.
For now, Charlie's maintains that the turtles were privately owned and were returned to their owner, and the bar has scrubbed turtle racing from its calendar while state and local agencies sort through the complaints. The dust-up has also reopened a familiar debate among activists about whether live animal fundraisers really belong anywhere near Denver's Pride celebrations.
