In its effort to stop elephant poaching and the trade in illegal ivory,
the government has insisted that it does not care about small-time,
mom-and-pop-type ivory owners, that it’s more concerned with
international crime syndicates and environmental terrorists. However,
the recent ivory sting operation by the New York Department of
Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) on a 72-year-old woman for selling a
necklace containing beads of mammoth—that’s right, mammoth, not
elephant—ivory at the Pier Antique Show in New York City indicates the
NYDEC apparently failed to get the government memo on the matter.
For knife enthusiasts, the question now is how soon the NYDEC—as well as its counterpart in New Jersey—will start targeting knives with handles of mammoth, mastodon and other ancient ivories, as well as elephant ivory.
Of course, though beyond all reason, mammoth ivory—the tusks of an animal extinct for thousands of years—has been declared illegal to sell in the state of New York and also New Jersey. However, since the senior citizen at the Pier Antique Show is from North Carolina, it’s understandable that she was completely oblivious to the New York law—especially considering how ridiculous it is to outlaw something millennia old in the first place. In addition to the necklace, the agents seized $1,400 worth of jewelry from her in all.
NYDEC agents did not stop with stinging the little old lady from Carolina. They also seized a couple of sets of “teethers”—whale bone or ivory sticks crudely carved by 19th-century sailors for babies to cut their teeth on—from a New York folk art dealer. The agents seized the teethers and issued both the folk art dealer and the little old lady from Carolina summons to appear in court.
- See more at: http://www.blademag.com/blog/steve-shackleford-blog/nydec-hammers-little-old-lady-carolina#sthash.gyl5E0NZ.dpuf
For knife enthusiasts, the question now is how soon the NYDEC—as well as its counterpart in New Jersey—will start targeting knives with handles of mammoth, mastodon and other ancient ivories, as well as elephant ivory.
Of course, though beyond all reason, mammoth ivory—the tusks of an animal extinct for thousands of years—has been declared illegal to sell in the state of New York and also New Jersey. However, since the senior citizen at the Pier Antique Show is from North Carolina, it’s understandable that she was completely oblivious to the New York law—especially considering how ridiculous it is to outlaw something millennia old in the first place. In addition to the necklace, the agents seized $1,400 worth of jewelry from her in all.
NYDEC agents did not stop with stinging the little old lady from Carolina. They also seized a couple of sets of “teethers”—whale bone or ivory sticks crudely carved by 19th-century sailors for babies to cut their teeth on—from a New York folk art dealer. The agents seized the teethers and issued both the folk art dealer and the little old lady from Carolina summons to appear in court.
- See more at: http://www.blademag.com/blog/steve-shackleford-blog/nydec-hammers-little-old-lady-carolina#sthash.gyl5E0NZ.dpuf
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