I need as much info as I can get on transporting semen across the US/Canada border. I have a lady with a NSH mare who wants to breed to my Arabian stud for the 2001 breeding season, she lives in Alberta Canada and we are located in Southeastern Idaho. Any info is extremely appreciated.
Safe riding and God bless, Kim Magic Mist Arabians
Jos
Posted on Tuesday, November 14, 2000 - 10:36 pm:
There are no Veterinary restrictions on the importation of equine semen from the US to Canada, so you will not require any vet work or forms to be completed.
You will however require Customs declarations and invoices. These simply declare the origin of the semen (the US); the names and addresses of the shipper and receiver; and the description and value of the shipment. Make sure you include the container in the description and value!
The recipient will have to pay tax (7% in Alberta) upon importation of the first shipment for the mare. This must be paid to Canada Customs before the semen is released if it is being shipped by air, or to the courier company's broker if being shipped by courier.
Shipping by air (counter-to-counter) is usually the most reliable route for shipping cooled semen as it is faster, so if something does go wrong (and it gets lost) you are usually aware of it sooner, so tracking can be commenced faster. It is however also more expensive than courier.
It's not overly complicated as long as you have everything in place!
I also own an Arabian Stallion and in my reseach I have found that a current Coggins Test must be done on the Stallion before shipping the Semen and a copy of the results should be shipped along with the Semen. I believe the test is good for a six month period, so I sugeest you have this done before the start of the breeding season which should last you through the remainder of the season.
This rule also applies to shipping from Canada to the U.S.
Hi, thanks for the info on twinning! I now need some advice on shipped semen. I have successfully bred 5 mares with shipped semen and have always received a motility report with the shipment. This year semen arrived without any motility report. Also, My veterinarian was very unhappy with the quality of the semen. 16 days later, when checked my mare was not pregnant. I called and inquired about the missing motility report and the stallion owner said that they've never sent a report, but they would if I wanted one. I said I would really like it to be included with the next shipment. This is a 3 yr old stallion that I have never bred to before. The owners said that they shipped to 60 mares last year and that only 3 did not take. Just today my vet received the 2nd shipment and bred my mare. Again, he did not like the semen. He said he felt the motility was about 10%. ( No report was with the semen )Is this report something that the stallion owner is required to send? My mare is 10 yrs old, healthy and a great boodmare. She has had 5 foals, has no foaling problems or aborted foals & has always conceived on the first cycle. Two with shipped semen & 3 live cover. Is the stallion owner required to prove his horses semen will ship before he advertises that he does? Thanks, Marsha
Jos
Posted on Saturday, February 24, 2001 - 05:17 pm:
There is no legal requirement that a semen report be shipped with the semen - at least in North America. You should be aware however that the most reputable businesses and farms processing semen will always include such a report.
In fairness to the stallion farm you are dealing with, there are many things that can occur to the semen in transit that can have a harmful effect, so it may well have been that the product they were shipping was indeed viable, but that the damage was occuring before it got to you.
Did your veterinarian warm the sample before evaluation? One of the common errors seen when a "low motility" pronouncement is made is that the evaluator did not warm the sample prior to evaluation. Semen that shows 10% motility cooled will quite possibly be 50 or 60 percent or even more when warmed.
The question as to whether the stallion owner has to prove his stallion's semen ships prior to advertising the product is a legal one and outside the domain of this correspondent. My only comment is that it would certainly be the ethical thing to do and we always recommend it to our own new customers.
Hi, here's an update on my shipped semen problem. Just got back from my vet and we AI'd my mare with the 2nd half of the semen. Yesterday he warmed a couple of samples to body temp in the incubator and tested them at different times. The stallion was collected & shipped on Thursday and yesterday ( after warming ) my vet said there was only about 10% motility. Today we checked again and there was -0- motility, after only 2 days. She had a 43 follicle yesterday and it was starting to go today. I'm sure she will ovulate this afternoon. We gave HCG yesterday and today. He feels, as I do that my mare though fertile and ready will not conceive due to the semen quality. He also mentioned that there was a lot of "debris" in the semen. He is running a culture on what he kept. I plan on calling AQHA Monday a.m. and getting some information from them before I call the stallion owners. I am going to ask the the owners for copies of their semen analysis. I feel very helpless on this end. Maybe AQHA will have a suggestion. Thanks for getting back to me so soon. Marsha
Jos
Posted on Saturday, February 24, 2001 - 10:03 pm:
It would certainly appear that there is a problem with this semen.
A culture of the semen is almost certain to yield some growth, but unfortunately it is likely to be a surface pathogen which really doesn't necessarily prove anything - there is always contamination during collection (or live cover!), although it is to be hoped that antibiotics in the extender will deal with it.
A more likely explanation for the poor quality is either bad semen handling (resulting in heat/cold shock) during collection and processing; a sperm incompatibility with the antibiotic being used in the extender; or a problem with the seminal plasma of the stallion - some stallions need to have their semen centrifuged to remove the majority of the seminal plasma, as it is toxic to the sperm (all seminal plasma is toxic over a period of time, but with some stallinos it is more so).
And don't forget the consideration that there could be a problem with the transport stage too - you might want to consider having it flown to you for same-day insemination.
Although the AQHA will probably be sympathetic, they are unlikely to be able to assist you in any way as if there is a problem, your issue is a civil dispute which a breed organization would not wish to become involved in.
It's Marsha again. I wanted to add that the stallion in question is a 2 time AQHA World Champion halter stallion ( year 2000 ) and also the 2000 Congress Champion. He is a very "hot" new stallion and his stud fee is substantial! The stallion owners are sure to earn a huge amount of money from his stud fee. If his semen is not fit to ship, I would think that there are a lot of mare owners around the country getting the same poor quality semen as I have. If AQHA gets enough complaints they might do something. Enough for now, I don't want to be a bother, but your information is great, so I will keep you posted.
Posted on Wednesday, February 28, 2001 - 01:53 am:
Just wanted to let you know that I was able to contact the stallion owner yesterday afternoon. He was very apologetic and said that he took full responsibility for the bad shipment of semen. He had collected that Thursday using a new lubricant and found out the next day that the lubricant had spermicidal effects. The semen was split between 4 shipments. All 4 were d.o.a. We will probably short cycle the mare since we all feel that it is highly unlikely that she could be pregnant. Hopefully the next time we will get some live semen. Thanks, Marsha
Hi does anybody know of non-spermicidal rubber for Artificial isemination?
or where can I get such an information
Thanks
Jos
Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2001 - 01:02 pm:
Not quite sure what you mean by "non-spermicidal rubber for Artificial isemination". Do you mean an all-plastic syringe (in which case visit Air-Tite syringes), or do you mean an insemination pipette - which should be available from your veterinarian.
Hope this helps.
Anonymous
Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2001 - 04:40 pm:
Or, do you mean an equine condum for collecting the stallion?
Hi Does anyone what licences are required or if it is possible to get frozen semen into Canada from the UK or the US ( semen originating in the UK). Thanks
Anonymous (152.163.195.207)
Posted on Saturday, August 11, 2001 - 06:50 am:
i need to know is there a certain age when a filly has her first season.
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