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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

It’s in the Mail

WASHINGTON (CN) - The U.S. Postal Service plans to stop granting refunds on next-day or second-day Express Delivery if live animals arrive late, because their tardiness is for the animals' safety.

According to the post office, certain critters may be asphyxiated when they are shipped along with dry ice or solid carbon dioxide, which can vaporize in-flight. So when dry ice is scheduled to be on a plane, the animals must be routed to another flight. The Express Delivery guarantee had not taken these delays into account, but under the new rule, the post office would consider refunds if the package took more than three days.

Only birds and cold-blooded animals can be sent by mail, including baby (up to 20 inches) alligators, salamanders, lizards, snails and, of course, snakes. Baby chicks are the most common animals to be shipped, usually in the weeks before Easter.

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