UPDATE | Canadian woman ‘shocked’ when her sealskin purse is seized at U.S. border

A woman from Corner Brook is learning about the high cost of fashion after she was fined US $250 on Monday for trying to cross the border with a sealskin purse. 

In early March, Nora Fitzgerald and her friend decided to drive across the border at Bridgewater, Maine, to do some shopping. She was carrying a purse made out of sealskin -- a gift from her mother.

While at the border, Fitzgerald says a U.S. customs agent noticed her purse and asked her if it was made of real fur. When she told him it was sealskin, she and her friend were asked to park at the side of the building and bring her purse inside. 

"I really didn't know what to think,” Fitzgerald tells As It Happens host Carol Off. "I thought at first that it was a little bit of a joke, then I realized he was quite serious. I was shocked."

After showing her passport and filling out some forms, Fitzgerald was told her purse would be confiscated under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. Under the legislation, passed in 1972, sealskin products are prohibited from being taken into the United States. 

I thought at first that it was a little bit of a joke, then I realized he was quite serious. I was shocked.- Nora Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald says she wasn’t aware of the rule. "Had I known there was any problems with any kind of fur. . . I would have left my purse back at the house and I never would have even attempted to drive across the border," she says.

The border agent seemed sympathetic, Fitzgerald says, especially when she told him the purse was a gift from her mother. "I could tell that he was almost apologetic. He did feel bad for me. I know he was just following the rules and procedures," she says.

After the incident, Fitzgerald says she was sure she would never see her purse again -- but she wasn’t expecting what happened next.

On Monday, she received a letter from the U.S. Department of Commerce. It was a notice of seizure requiring her to pay of fine of US $250 and to sign documents waiving her property rights to the purse.

Fitzgerald says she doesn’t see any other options besides giving in to the demands. "I don't think I have any other choice but to sign,” she says. “If I don't pay that fine I won't be getting in the U.S. any time soon."