Federal customs agents foiled the plans of an Iowa woman who wanted to make jewellery from giraffe poop she picked up on a trip to Kenya after she brought it back to the US in her luggage.
The woman declared the small box of faeces when she was selected to have her belongings inspected upon arriving at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport on September 29, according to US Customs and Border Protection.
The woman, who was not identified, told officials she planned to use the waste to make a necklace, as she had done in the past with moose poop.
Sneaking it into the airport would’ve cost her a penalty of anywhere from $300 to $1,000.
The agency´s agriculture specialists destroyed the giraffe poop.
‘There is a real danger with bringing faecal matter into the U.S.,’ Customs and Border Protection’s Chicago field Director LaFonda D Sutton-Burke said in a statement.
‘If this person had entered the U.S. and had not declared these items, there is high possibility a person could have contracted a disease from this jewellery and developed serious health issues.’
African swine fever, classical swine fever, Newcastle disease, foot-and-mouth disease and swine vesicular disease are among ailments in Kenya that Customs cited as risks.
