Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, All,

After successfully sending a tortoise with DHL last week, I returned to them last night to send one and was turned away. They said that just this week, it had come down on high-order that they will no longer be shipping anything "with two eyes." No live animal shipments. And conceded that he shouldn't even have shipped the last tortoise.

Does anyone know if it is actually against DHL policy to ship animals? I thought they were the last company without such a policy. I searched their website, but didn't see any information for or against. I know that when they were Airborne Express, they turned me away, and I simply printed out the page from their website that showed tortoises as okay to ship.

Can anyone offer any advice/help??

All the Best,

T

Their regs now state that animals are unacceptable for shipping on DHL... (bummer)

>>Hi, All,
>>
>>After successfully sending a tortoise with DHL last week, I returned to them last night to send one and was turned away. They said that just this week, it had come down on high-order that they will no longer be shipping anything "with two eyes." No live animal shipments. And conceded that he shouldn't even have shipped the last tortoise.
>>
>>Does anyone know if it is actually against DHL policy to ship animals? I thought they were the last company without such a policy. I searched their website, but didn't see any information for or against. I know that when they were Airborne Express, they turned me away, and I simply printed out the page from their website that showed tortoises as okay to ship.
>>
>>Can anyone offer any advice/help??
>>
>>All the Best,
>>
>>T
-----
Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

.

When I lived in CT, the local offices of Airborne, DHL, and UPS all uniformly refused to ship tortoises for me. Each company's main corporate offices told me on several different occasions that shipping live turtles/tortoises was against their policies. UPS also told me that NONE of their planes had pressurized or heated cargo areas because they accept no live animals. The nice lady also went on to say that since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many packages are X-rayed to check the contents before being placed on the planes, and that if I (or anyone else, I assume) shipped a live animal which was detected via X-ray, I would be banned from shipping via UPS for life.

I have received tortoises from other people in "unmarked" boxes with no air holes, which is a way of circumventing the rules, but how good is it for the animal inside if no one knows the box contains a living creature?

Additionally, I have personally observed pallets and containers of UPS packages left sitting out on the tarmac next to their planes all night at the airport in CT waiting to be loaded in the early AM. This occurs routinely, even when the temperature is -5 or -10F which it frequently is at night in the winters up north.

I therefore decided some time ago that it is most certainly in the best interest of the animals to ship via Delta for same day delivery rather than take the risks involved with the other means.

Just spoke with a young lady in Califonia (10:30 pm CDT 4/28/05)and she told me there is nothing on the books that says we can't ship tortoises. I told her I have used DHL going on a year with no Q's asked.. She said "Don't worry about it"!

Go figure???

Terry

I recently received a same-day Egyptian Tortoise using Delta Dash. (Montana to Los Angeles.) Worked beautifully. The shipping container was labelled "Live Harmless Reptiles" and had air holes.

I'm sure it was.. how much was "shipping".. and I live 100 miles from the closest airport. How much would it cost me to ship now????

See.. DHL is O.K. (above)

Terry

I believe the breeder tacked on $70 shipping for Delta Dash.

btw: Just supplying info here; I have no stake in whether anyone chooses DHL, Delta or friend-of-a-friend's-microbus.

Cheers.

I work for DHL...I've been with Airborne Express (DHL) for about 5 years, then when the DHL merger came our uniforms became even uglier - yellow and red. Anyway, DHL sucks. I would not want an animal that I invest in to be delivered by us/them...even if it were legal, i wouldn't want UPS or FedEx to deliver it either... Packages changes hands far too many times with people who have no common sense or care. I've seen disgruntled drivers dropkick packages...I've seen them toss across the belts from driver to driver, run over by forklifts and vans...and although most think labelling the box "live animal - fragile" or "handle with care" will give it that extra touch of respect, most people are so heartless they will violently shake them while laughing and say "I wonder what's in here?". As a driver...and with the availabilty of 'free shipping'...I will only ship letters and non valuable stuff. And just like a previous reply had stated about UPS freight sitting on the tarmac...it rings true with DHL...it usually won't sit out overnight but it'll stay out for quite awhile in the rain/snow/heat... Just a heads up, I guess. Maybe the only safe way to ship an animal through DHL is label it 'Extremely boring office documents'...then the driver will likely just deliver it....maybe not on time though...

-phew