A USDA Visit

For sure no search warrant no searching thru any of my property.
 
OhNo123 said:
Oh,

how did the USDA know you had Piranhas?
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pretty sure the LFS snitched on me.. I bought some feeders and mentioned it-- I was new in the state at the time and acctually didnt know they were illegal...

Mgamer20o0 said:
well thats smart.... tell everyone in the world your breaking the law.....
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I am NOT breaking the law anymore.. this was a long time ago-- I cant be prosecuted for keeping something 5 years ago and talking about it on a board later lol.. I dont have them anymore they can come search me if they like-- they will find cichlids and tetras and guppies.. and a few barbs all of which can be purchased 2 blocks away at petco
 
Wow, well that must have been a real interesting experience. I'm not sure I would have let them on my property though, irrespective of having or not having anything to hide. Then again, I had a real bad experience with a cop trying to illegally gain access to my house once, rather frightening. It's made me very paranoid and likely to turn someone away if they didn't have a warrant. Still, I must admit it'd be real interesting to have anyone from a government branch show up (*crosses fingers* but here's to hoping they never have to lol).
 
Yeah.. I have nothing to hide either-- but I still know my rights and nobody is entering my house without a warrant.. I would take the police department for all their worth if they ever tried to come in un-invited

I have nothing against police.. but many of the ones around here are out of control.. we have had numerous lawsuits in Spokane with the police breaking laws, tasering people who dont deserve it, and a man was shot who was completely unarmed a few months back
 
I understand where you guys are coming from, but this wasn't like he was coming after me. I had purchased snails from an ebayer that had been adding these illegal snails to some of their snail orders. The purchasers did NOT know they were in there. This ebayer is a power seller and has sold a bunch. The USDA is out checking with every one that bought snails from them. Not everyone would euthanize a snail that started munching their plants or causing problems in their tanks and the possibility that some of these snails could make it into the waterways.

Maybe if he had come on strong, I might have acted differently. But the first thing this guy said to me after introducing himself and showing his identification was: "You did nothing wrong by buying the snails you did. But you may have recieved some snails that are illegal."
 
Lupin said:
The Marisa cornuarietis is illegal for interstate shipping to begin with hence the USDA inspection in case Snoopy has some from the seller. Once they see the illegal snails, they confiscate them and destroy.
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Oh brother... I've seen references to 'marisas' and didn't actually know what those were. Hadn't looked them up before because I wasn't looking for new types of snails. This thread made me wonder what they are... and now I know that I have some. I thought the snails I have were just common ramshorns. I've never bought any rams, specifically. These came in as hitchhikers as have regular pond snails. I have no idea from where.
 
So if this had been me instead of you, my snails would've been confiscated and destroyed with no proof? (I have many Colombians, but I received them legally (intrastate))
 
To be honest, I don't know because I didn't have any of them. If they are legal to own and you can prove you got them legally, who knows. The point for me is though, there is a ebayer that is shipping them all over the US to people who do not know they are getting them. These said people may not dispose of them properly and may release them into the wild thinking that it is no big deal. I wouldn't put anything out in the wild that had once been in my tank, but all people don't feel that way and if they "think" they are only common ramshorns they might just release them. The USDA, in this case is trying to keep that from happening and getting in contact with ALL of their customers.
 
If the marisas were obtained legally and you can show proof you did obtain them legally, then USDA has no reason to confiscate and destroy them.
 
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