FaunaClassifieds - View Single Post - Snake shipper charged with animal cruelty

03-28-2006, 11:31 PM

I would like to know more about a company that just opens packages as it sees fit.
If I were investigator on this case, I would also want to know about this clerks extra sensory perception that something was wrong. Yet, he thought the guy was sending something to the taxidermist. [/quote]

All the shipping companies reserve the right to open a package if they have a reasonable suspicion that something might be in there that shouldn't be.
One point definately needs to be clarified to determine if the employee had grounds to be suspicious.
The two articles contradict each other on the order of events. One says he came in and said he needed to ship some dishes to someone and on the way out asked if they shipped snakes, while the other states he came in and asked about the snake policy then after being asked what was in the box claimed it was cups.
To me if he asked on his way out it would be far less suspicious than if he asked first before claiming what the contents were. I tend to believe he asked about shipping snakes first then claimed they were dishes after being told snakes were not allowed. Had he lied about the contents off the bat that would suggest he had full knowledge that snakes were not allowed and wouldn't needed to have asked at all.

I can understand how to an outsider completely unfamiliar with the reptile industry it might seem inhumane to put an animal in a box and ship it UPS. They have no knowledge that this is common practice and hundreds of thousands of reptiles have been transported this way with a very low mortality rate over all.
It just scares me that in a court of law it might be ruled that this is inhumane with no qualifying statements. What I mean is what if the verdict basically says this man is guilty of animal cruelty because he attempted to ship snakes through UPS. Not that he is guilty of cruelty because he tried to ship them with no heat packs or with second day delivery. If the shipping of reptiles through the overnight carriers were to be ruled inhumane it would at least stand to cuse us problems in the future by forcing other shippers to appear in court to prove it is not inhumane at all.

03-28-2006, 11:31 PM	#6
Clay Davenport	I would like to know more about a company that just opens packages as it sees fit. If I were investigator on this case, I would also want to know about this clerks extra sensory perception that something was wrong. Yet, he thought the guy was sending something to the taxidermist. [/quote] All the shipping companies reserve the right to open a package if they have a reasonable suspicion that something might be in there that shouldn't be. One point definately needs to be clarified to determine if the employee had grounds to be suspicious. The two articles contradict each other on the order of events. One says he came in and said he needed to ship some dishes to someone and on the way out asked if they shipped snakes, while the other states he came in and asked about the snake policy then after being asked what was in the box claimed it was cups. To me if he asked on his way out it would be far less suspicious than if he asked first before claiming what the contents were. I tend to believe he asked about shipping snakes first then claimed they were dishes after being told snakes were not allowed. Had he lied about the contents off the bat that would suggest he had full knowledge that snakes were not allowed and wouldn't needed to have asked at all. I can understand how to an outsider completely unfamiliar with the reptile industry it might seem inhumane to put an animal in a box and ship it UPS. They have no knowledge that this is common practice and hundreds of thousands of reptiles have been transported this way with a very low mortality rate over all. It just scares me that in a court of law it might be ruled that this is inhumane with no qualifying statements. What I mean is what if the verdict basically says this man is guilty of animal cruelty because he attempted to ship snakes through UPS. Not that he is guilty of cruelty because he tried to ship them with no heat packs or with second day delivery. If the shipping of reptiles through the overnight carriers were to be ruled inhumane it would at least stand to cuse us problems in the future by forcing other shippers to appear in court to prove it is not inhumane at all.