Your link only applies to illegally possessed wildlife...

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Posted by Concerned about your statement on April 19, 2002 at 22:05:52:

In Reply to: seems everyone needs more information... posted by Samia Salik on April 19, 2002 at 10:38:05:

there are no laws that I am aware of stating that animals that are not protected by state or federal laws cannot be transported by methods other than air freight. The only law that I am aware of regarding shipping herps is that the lacey act requires that each shipment which is to cross state lines must be labeled with the scientific name and common name, as Dana mentions. In addition, most carriers, including the USPS (not sure about post 09-11) do ship reptiles. They just ship limited types (lizards and I beleive turtles as well). They do restrict the shipping of snakes (the USPS). Since the USPS is a government owned operation, breaking its shipping rules may be in violation of a law. When it comes to other shipping companies, it is their POLICY to not accept snakes (many do accept lizards). Some have obtained permission to ship snakes using shippers other than the USPS. It is unclear what may happen to those who are found to be in violation of a shippers POLICY. As far as the safety issue, I have spoken to companies who ship using door to door shippers in large volumes (10-15 shipments per week for the past 10 years) and they have only lost 1 animal... and that was the fault of the customer who left the animal on the front porch during summer for several days. As long as the animals are packaged properly, they will arrive safely. In the case of an animal not arriving safely (which is no ones goal) the burden of liability for the lost animal lies in the agreement that was made at the time of purchase. Shipping reptiles via airline carriers is probably slightly safer, but it is also safer to fly than to drive and that doesnt mean that we should not be allowed to drive simply because there is more risk involved. I am not attempting to offend you, but I see no evidence that it is illegal to ship reptiles other than by means of air freight. I am no lawyer, so I could be wrong, but I have not seen anything that would indicate otherwise.

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you may be right... Samia Salik 04/20/02 (0)

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: there are no laws that I am aware of stating that animals that are not protected by state or federal laws cannot be transported by methods other than air freight. The only law that I am aware of regarding shipping herps is that the lacey act requires that each shipment which is to cross state lines must be labeled with the scientific name and common name, as Dana mentions. In addition, most carriers, including the USPS (not sure about post 09-11) do ship reptiles. They just ship limited types (lizards and I beleive turtles as well). They do restrict the shipping of snakes (the USPS). Since the USPS is a government owned operation, breaking its shipping rules may be in violation of a law. When it comes to other shipping companies, it is their POLICY to not accept snakes (many do accept lizards). Some have obtained permission to ship snakes using shippers other than the USPS. It is unclear what may happen to those who are found to be in violation of a shippers POLICY. As far as the safety issue, I have spoken to companies who ship using door to door shippers in large volumes (10-15 shipments per week for the past 10 years) and they have only lost 1 animal... and that was the fault of the customer who left the animal on the front porch during summer for several days. As long as the animals are packaged properly, they will arrive safely. In the case of an animal not arriving safely (which is no ones goal) the burden of liability for the lost animal lies in the agreement that was made at the time of purchase. Shipping reptiles via airline carriers is probably slightly safer, but it is also safer to fly than to drive and that doesnt mean that we should not be allowed to drive simply because there is more risk involved. I am not attempting to offend you, but I see no evidence that it is illegal to ship reptiles other than by means of air freight. I am no lawyer, so I could be wrong, but I have not seen anything that would indicate otherwise.

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