A woman from Corner Brook, N.L., says she was "shocked" when law enforcement confiscated her sealskin purse on a recent trip south of the border.
Nora Fitzgerald was held up by a U.S. customs agent after her handbag caught his eye as she tried to cross the New Brunswick border on a day trip to Maine.
"I was shocked … I thought 'OK' this a bit much," she told NTV.
Fitzgerald didn't know that the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act makes it illegal to import any sealskin product into the country. And the customs agent promptly informed her that he had to confiscate her handcrafted, Newfoundland-made sealskin purse.
"He said: 'I'm going to have to seize your purse, and I thought 'OK this is not happening … like are you serious?" Fitzgerald said. "I couldn't believe it."
Fitzgerald said that customs agents did not afford her the opportunity to stash her purse on the Canadian side of the border until her return.
The Newfoundlander was also surprised to receive a letter on Monday, indicating that she had been fined $250 for the incident.
"For what? I'm not smuggling drugs; I'm not bringing weapons in or anything that," Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said that she hasn’t been offered any means of appeal, and she believes that it is unlikely she will ever see her handbag again.
But she said she plans to pay the ticket because she does not want to be prevented from crossing the border in the future.
The province's seal hunt has come under fire in recent years, with the European Union opting to ban sealskin products, as well as other countries including Mexico, Russia and Taiwan.
Despite her troubles at the border, Fitzgerald says that she hasn’t changed her attitude about buying sealskin products.
"I'm a Newfoundlander first and foremost … I'm proud of that … I'm proud of the seal hunt, and I love the sealskin products," Fitzgerald said.
But she had one warning for others.
"It is buyer beware … not everyone shares our enthusiasm for this."
