Move Over Illegal Immigrant Children, Illegal Parrots Stuffed in Elmo Dolls Are Now a Thing

Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:

No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.

If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

**WarOne**

I blame our do nothing Republican Congress for this travesty. Those birds have done nothing wrong! *shakes fist*

http://www.yumasun.com/news/cbp-officials-find-living-parrots-inside-elmo-doll/article_bfdc93bc-08a7-11e4-ada3-0017a43b2370.html

Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists at the Port of San Luis found two living parrots inside of an Elmo doll being brought across the border July 1.

Officers referred a California couple for an intensive agriculture inspection after they attempted to enter the United States from Mexico. During the inspection, a CBP agriculture specialist first located a bag of mangos with seeds, which are prohibited.

Another agriculture specialist then asked to inspect one of the passenger’s Elmo doll. An x-ray of the doll indicated an anomaly was present inside it, and the specialists cut it open, revealing the two parrots.

By law, all birds imported into the United States from all countries except Canada -- as distinguished from poultry or unaccompanied birds -- must be quarantined for 30 days at a USDA bird quarantine facility. The importer is responsible for making necessary quarantine arrangements, as well as obtaining health certificates in the country of origin.

Birds, including pet birds, may also be subject to U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Services regulations.

Pet birds are regulated since they can carry viral and bacterial diseases of concern including Avian Influenza, Exotic Newcastle Disease and Psittacosis, CBP officials said.

The prohibited birds and fruit were seized under the Animal Health Protection Act and the Plant Protection Act. The couple was fined $300, which they agreed to pay via mail, and were released without further incident.

The seized birds were placed in a quarantine isolation crate and transferred to a USDA-Veterinary Services bird holding facility. The seized mangos were destroyed on site in accordance with United States Department of Agriculture approved destruction methods.

CBP did not respond to a request for further comment Thursday after a press release was distributed to local media about the incident. No other details were immediately available.

© Copyright 2014, Yuma Sun, Yuma, AZ. Powered by BLOX Content Management System from TownNews.com.

**Orlanth**

This is why I prefer piracy to smuggling.

You get to engage in the illegal transit of parrots openly and inflagrant violation of the law..

It's all a matter of style and presentation.

**Iron_Captain**

Elmo dolls are creepy.

Also, those poor illegal mangos. They had done nothing wrong! It was not their fault!
At least it is good to know that they were destroyed using approved destruction methods. Really good that the article explicitly mentions that, otherwise I might not have been able to sleep tonight.

**Ouze**

I can't help but wonder if the "approved destruction method" was "left on the break room table, for agents to eat over lunch".

**djones520**

Ouze wrote:
I can't help but wonder if the "approved destruction method" was "left on the break room table, for agents to eat over lunch".

While amusing to think so, it probably involved thousands of dollars of red tape and incinerators for fear of giant death spiders and Jeff Daniels.

**WarOne**

djones520 wrote:
Ouze wrote:
I can't help but wonder if the "approved destruction method" was "left on the break room table, for agents to eat over lunch".

While amusing to think so, it probably involved thousands of dollars of red tape and incinerators for fear of giant death spiders and Jeff Daniels.

Somewhere I believe the CBP has a tracking board congratulating the agency every time they successfully prevent Jeff Daniels from crossing the border and being incinerated to prevent contamination.

Unfortunately each successful incineration was of a Jack Daniels bottle, a complete and utter waste of good liquor due to the poor reading skills of border patrol agents.