[windyhill]

I have an Aunt and Uncle who live in Germany . They fly over here sometimes and I was thinking of asking them to bring me a few mice.
I was wondering, what are the mice like over there? Are they mainly like our petstore mice or more like show mice?
Would it cost alot to have them bring a few mice over here?

 

[Jack Garcia]

Germany has all types of mice, from petstore to show winners. They don't have all varieties though. Folks in Germany don't keep dominant red or angora (for example) because they're perceived to be "cruel" varieties. Long story (and debate) there!

It would cost minimum USD $1000, probably closer to around $1500. That's about how much I paid for my recent imports when all was said and done, but I know some folks who paid over $5,000 for imports from England a couple years ago. This is because mice (no matter how many there are) must come as live cargo and you must clear multiple governmental hurdles: US Customs and Border Patrol, US Fish and Wildlife, the US Department of Agriculture, a private broker (sometimes), health certification by the exporting veterinarian, health certification by the importing veterinarian, airline fees, lawyer's fees, and so forth. Each governmental office has its own paperwork, forms, and procedures and each doesn't necessarily communicate with the other, especially in different countries. The mice themselves were free or low cost, but whenever you import warm-blooded animals into the US it is a months- or years-long process that requires a lot of planning and a lot of legal work.

I would recommend the process to anyone who has the time and money to do so, but it is difficult and not for the faint at heart. You must have somebody on each side of the Atlantic who knows the local laws and procedures well, or else US Customs could end up holding you or your animals indefinitely. You sometimes have to be forceful with people when importing animals. In my experience, many folks didn't have a clue as to what they were doing (though a couple were very kind and reasonable, they still had no idea what they were doing).

 

[windyhill]

My uncle is in the army, so he only gets to come to the US once or twice a year, so I have plenty of time to save up and get things in order (at least I hope so)
my husband might not like the idea of spending that much though. I'll just have to save up myself

 

[Jack Garcia]

Or drive to Kentucky!

 

[windyhill]

Kentucky might be easier

Or whenever you come to St. Louis you can bring me some

 

[Jack Garcia]

Here's an article I wrote recently for the ECMA newsletter, about importing mice into the US: http://www.eastcoastmice.org/tipsonimportingmice.htm

 

[windyhill]

Thanks

 

[Sarodentry]

If he has them in a big enough cage that can go under the seat he can use it as 'carry on' for mice. I don't think it will cost extra except for vet papers saying they are healthy. if he's flying on a military plane and not a civilian plain he might be able to bring them for free provided they have vet papers. You should ask him about that.

 

[Jack Garcia]

Nope, you can't bring mice on board any passenger plane or other vessel entering the US. You will be arrested. They must be shipped as cargo in a pre-approved live animal shipping crate and have all the necessary pre-paid paperwork and enter at a designated port (there are only a few in the country) with a USDA veterinarian on staff. This isn't an airline rule or a military rule: it's a US Customs and Border Patrol law. You can bring mice into the country without a lawyer, but it's always helpful to have one anyway. There are so many things that can go wrong. If somebody mistakenly puts the wrong Customs Clearance sticker on the shipping container, for example. Little things like that can result in delays of a day or a week.

Within the US (i.e. domestic flights), on some airlines, you can bring one or two approved animals onto a plane, however. But never from outside the US.

Here is an electronic version of the booklet given to me: http://www.cbp.gov/ImageCache/cgov/cont ... 1/pets.pdf

What's confusing is that this document says there are no regulations on the importation of pet rodents, but this is not true, as I found when I was actually waiting in the Customs Office (and I wrote about this in the article above). Customs, the USDA, the USFWS, and other offices each have their own laws and rules and each office is under no obligation to communicate with the others. There are a lot of hoops to jump through when importing animals into the US, and it costs a lot of money, but it is worth it.

Here is a list of designated ports:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export ... list.shtml

I used Atlanta.

 

[Sarodentry]

Ah ok I wasn't sure, thank you for that information! I thought it didn't matter because I know I can take a cat on board, at least that's what I was told and that's what I have seen when I flew. People would have their small dogs in crates under the seat as well, not importing of course but I totally understand the importing thing now.

 

[Jack Garcia]

Yeah, unfortunately (for us) the laws for importing cats and dogs are different from importing most other animals. It's a societal view that's built into our (international) laws: cats and dogs make "good pets" and can travel with us a lot of the time (even internationally) but mice and rats are "dirty" and "disgusting" and must be contained in a box and imported like dry goods or some such. :|

 

[sputnika]

Yeah just make sure you check that your mice is ok to be transferred before you decide which one you want as some other animals also can wreak havoc and that's why certain animals are not allowed to be transferred.

 

[Mymouse]

wow, and I thought that importing mice to my country was difficult....but it seems much more trouble importing to the USA :shock:
Do you also have to make a home quaranty?