It was the intent of this article to mislead uninformed party's concerning the importation of live animals.



There are regulations currently in place to monitor every aspect of every live animal shipment that enters the US .



By law. Every animal in every live animal shipment must be listed by species , common name and by number.



The number and species are on the government issued paperwork from the point of origin , the shippers invoice as well as the shipping boxes and containers in the boxes.



Shipments are suppose to be inspected both at the point of origin and destination and preceded by a health certificate issued by a government approved veterinarian from the country of origin . In addition there is set of a packing requirements. Animals can only be received at government designated ports of entry.



Violation of these regulations is punishable by confiscation , licensee revoking , fines.



The lack of substantiating data in the article for instance at what government port of entry are improperly marked boxes of live fish being received. Is validation of the publishers intent to skew the facts.



You can not legally receive a box simply marked vertebrate fish or snakes under current importation guidelines. The current set of regulations is designed so that there can be no secrets in the boxes legal or not.



USFW keeps records of all imported species. Any failure to comply can only be the result of the inspecting Federal agent not adhering to the set regulations. In this case steps would be needed to insure the agents are monitored so they understand and enforce the regulations as written.





Ernie Eison

WESTWOOD ACRES REPTILE FARM INC.

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