shipment intercepted

[Steven]

Hey,.. just to let you all know i'm really pissed of at the local authorities here in Belgium,... i was supposed to get a shipment with 3 adult scolopendra this week,... i haven't got the parcel but i got me a letter from a local police department that they have intercepted my parcel and the animals have been exterminated

now this is just typical belgium,....
there isn't any law that handles poisonous inverts or even harmless inverts,...........
so i guess the parcel was suspicious cause it was heathpacked and it came from a german guy.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
i'm really not feeling that good at the moment,...
stupid country i live in

for who may wonder: i ordered 2 adult gigantea (dark-form) and 1 Heros C. all adult animals of 20cm lenght (the size of the animals was even written in the letter i got from the police department)

greetings from a not so happy Steven

 

[wayne the pain]

that is so bad steven have they not given a reason for there actions and will they give you the money lost because of this?
oh and one more thing can you say who they are from or is it a secret?

 

[Bob]

Steven,
I went to my local US post office a while back seeing if I could send you some live inverts. Funny answer....he said he did not (US athorities) care but Belgium will not allow any live animals into the country.

I would ask your local post office if "any" live inverts are allowed. Maybe some just happen to get past...........

Sorry to hear the news. I still would like to ship you some Vinegaroons but at this point it does not look good.


Bob

 

[J Morningstar]

Steven,
I am sooooo sorry for your losses. That is about the crappiest thing I have heard in a long time. How did you ever get your animals before? I can't believe they just killed them. Wouldn't that be illegal as well? Wow the stupidity of some people will never seace to amaze me

 

[Steven]

Maybe some just happen to get past

i guess that's it,... i've just been lucky for a couple of years and now i have to pay the price,.....

but there are totally no clear statements of what you can and what you can't do here in Belgium,........

for example: when a criminal enters your house and you hit him with a stick or so, he can charge you for his injuries,....
stuff like that is quite common here in Belgium

 

[fatbloke]

Steven

that really sucks!!!

john

 

[Melmoth]

WHAT A BUMMER!!!!

Steven,
That's really bad news,man. If there is no law in Belgium about importing inverts, how the hell can they justify destroying your pedes??? It really stinks!
In the Uk, you can post inverts to people in England,Scotland, Wales but not Ireland,or so I'm told. A friend tried to post some T.slings but was told he couldn't.
We have the same insane laws here regarding people breaking into your home and being able to sue,if you defend your property. I think the US has it right on this matter-defend yourself by whatever means necessary.
George

 

[Mendi]

How awful!I don't see as they should have killed them, maybe hold them in a quarantine for a week or so... What a bummer

 

[wayne the pain]

just wondering?

have you been in touch with the dealer? know its not his fault but just wondered if he has had this type of thing before?

 

[Steven]

have you been in touch with the dealer? know its not his fault but just wondered if he has had this type of thing before?

yes i have,... i can't blame him for anything,... he handled correctly,... as it is indeed no crime in Germany to ship inverts trough mail. He was as surprised and mad like me,...
This was the very first time this happened to him to

i've talked to several persons,... and only can come with the conclusion to keep my mouth shut,... cause there's even a chance i get a bill or even jail (importing illegal venomous animals),....
yep yep, even new to me too
Belgium keeps on surprising me

so i'm gonna be a bit less active till this whole thing calms down,...
some other hobbyist warned me cause the're some changes coming about keeping "dangerous" animals (boa's, pythons, scorpions,...etc.) in our country,....

greetz

 

[J Morningstar]

Yea, actually it is illegal in the U.S. to send things like that through the mail as well but it seems to be the standard mode of operation for all invert bussiness here. But now there's been an increase of people getting caught with the worst crap:
A guy in New York city was caught with an adult tiger in his apartment, wich bit him. Not to mention a large croc as well.
A full grown crocodile was found in a cardboard box in a post office.
Monkey pox was imported from Africa in some giant rats.
And on and on, so of course they've freaked out on us and are going to make it alot harder for us to get inverts internationally as well. I just can't wait.
Again, I'm reallly, really sorry for your losses.
And please, watch your back!

 

[Melmoth]

DRACONIAN LAWS

Hi J Morningstar,
Seems like the laws on what we can and cannot keep are becoming more draconian on both sides of the Atlantic. I always thought that a more sensible approach to these things was adopted in US,but looks like things are changing.Incidentally that guy with the tiger in his apartment was on the news here.It is extremes,as you said,which spoil it for the rest of us. Here in the UK,they are planning to introduce a much stricter Dangerous Wild Animals Act. This will most likely affect the keeping of larger constrictors, and although scolopendra are not on the agenda as yet,it's only a matter of time! What will happen is they will make the cost of the licence(renewable annually) so high,it's beyond all but the richest keepers. Also knowing the devious ways of goverments the world over,once they know who has what,they can round the animals up for destruction, as and when it suits them. Only needs a couple of mishaps.The gutter press will of course aid them in this with sensationalist headlines.Best to keep quite about what wev'e got.
George

 

[J Morningstar]

I agree about keeping quiet, but I had to vent somewhere and I think it's out of my system till the next media incedent.
Jason

 

[Melmoth]

Re: Spleen Venting & Death Adders!!

Hey Jason,
I wasn't refering to you venting your spleen about the media incident. I meant whatever changes in law they bring about,I'm keeping quite. Try to remain invisible on the herp/invert front.What they don't know,can't hurt my animals. No,if we can't vent on this forum,where can we vent!!!! Coincidentally,I watched a programme on Nat.Geographic last night about the huge numbers of venomous snakes being imported into US,mostly through Miami.It was really scary!! People buying-Cobras,Taipan,Death Adders etc online. Now this is perhaps territory that needs looking at by the authorities.
George

 

[scorpio]

not related to importation, but the city I live in has a few crazy activists making an attempt to ban the keeping of exotic animals which goes all the way from fish to solfugids.

I havent done much research on the topic, only heard about it, but supposedly, they are making a fuss about companionship in animals. They say that they see no companionship between a fish and a human, although I would love to disagree since I am rather attached to my only little gourami. But this really concerned me for a while, because of many things. A petstore near me that I frequent was interviewed and claimed if the laws were passed, her entire business would have been ruined as all they sell are exotics.

Another reason why it obviously concerned me, was that it threatened my rights to all 40-50 creatures in my posession. My main question and concern regarding my animals, was where they would end up going :?

Also, if they were passed, would it become possible to obtain liscenses for the keeping, breeding and shipping of these animals?

However, im am hopeful that it will never come to having to get rid of my animals. If it did, id put them all in a truck, drive to sunny Florida, and dedicate an entire room with nothing else in it to them. (I hope to do that anyway )

So anyway, sorry to hear about the lost pedes, and wish you better luck in the future. It would be nice if we were better informed about rules regarding animals than 34 page documents in some fish and wildlife office 40 miles from home.