My $300 mistake

[Makeitstop]

A baby seal walks into a club...

*rimshot*

[Wompet]

So, today I finally got around to putting away some of the things from my trip. I see the box my sporran came in has a label on it: Made in Nova Scotia. Turns out the fur is…
.
.
.
.
quite…
.
.
.
.
possibly…
.
.
.
.
.
illegal!






Regards, Rex,
Outlaw in Cincinnati.

If USF&WS charged anyone, it would be the importer (nameless shop) for knowingly importing product (sealskin sporran) prohibited by the Marine Mammals Protection Act (THE LAW). Oh, and they would take your sporran away as evidence.

If you're really concerned, call up the Cincinnati/Erlanger office for Fish and Wildlife and ask if they'll take a look at it. Of course, you may end up losing your sporran that way ...

Gary
who fondly remembers seizing all those sea turtle boots ...

[ccga3359]

If USF&WS charged anyone, it would be the importer (nameless shop) for knowingly importing product (sealskin sporran) prohibited by the Marine Mammals Protection Act (THE LAW). Oh, and they would take your sporran away as evidence.

If you're really concerned, call up the Cincinnati/Erlanger office for Fish and Wildlife and ask if they'll take a look at it. Of course, you may end up losing your sporran that way ...

Gary
who fondly remembers seizing all those sea turtle boots ...

Gary when did this seal ban come into effect and what about all the seal products purchased before that date? As I'm noting that Rex's intial post was twenty years ago .

[Wompet]

Oh, right Well, Rex could take his family heirloom, which would have been grandfathered in before the MMPA went into effect, and USF&WS couldn't (or shouldn't) seize, and ask if there would be any problems travelling internationally with it ...

[ccga3359]

Oh, right Well, Rex could take his family heirloom, which would have been grandfathered in before the MMPA went into effect, and USF&WS couldn't (or shouldn't) seize, and ask if there would be any problems travelling internationally with it ...

And further had this store imported it prior to the ban could they not still sell it?

[Wompet]

Imported prior to the ban ... that would be kind of iffy. You would think they would have re-exported the goods for a refund or product they could sell legally, unless inventory was so small that returns would have been cost prohibitive ...
And I don't recall when the Act went into effect (it's been at least twenty years since we started harping about your seals, hasn't it?), the factor of time would have to be considered ...

Can anyone guess what I do when I'm not on vacation?

[ccga3359]

...harping about your seals...

Can anyone guess what I do when I'm not on vacation?

I don't know... make lousy jokes?

[Rex_Tremende]

And I don't recall when the Act went into effect (it's been at least twenty years since we started harping about your seals, hasn't it?), the factor of time would have to be considered ...

1966, which codified a treaty signed in 1957. My reading of it says that it is more concerned with how the skins are taken, not so much what happens to them later, provided that they are taken in the proscribed way.

Nevertheless, I admit nothing!

Regards,
Rex.

[Tartan Hiker]

Man oh man, Rex. I wish you had been able to contact myself or Barclay or any of the other Asheville locals. We'd have told you to absolutely avoid the shop here at all costs. Your experience is a mild snub compared to some of the outrageous behaviors perpetrated by the owner of that shop. I could tell you stories that would make your apron curl. Her obnoxious behaviors are a frequent topic of conversation at our weekly kilt nights.

Just please don't hold it against us.

[slohairt]

I think you're probably in the clear. L&M exports everywhere, and they make calf skin versions of their seal skin sporrans for export to the U.S.