You will never believe this...
 

My husband & I were driving across the Florida border hauling a 6 foot by 10 foot trailer of our furniture headed for Allaire Loop in Fernandina. We were towing the trailer with our Toyota Tacoma truck. I was driving & a cop pulled in behind me & after trailing me, turned on his lights to pull me over. I stopped & he was a law enforcement officer for the department of agriculture. Turns out we were supposed to stop at the agriculture inspection station. They are looking for plants & animals that people bring over the border. He gave me a warning & said it would not be on my driving record. He was very nice & Richard asked him if he sent me to prison could he take the dog too. I didn't think that was very funny. ha ha ha Anyway, just letting you all know so you don't get stopped. The funny thing was we have brought 2 loads down and this was the first time we got stopped but I didn't tell him that. Nancy

That's good to know! It would have never crossed my mind. Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks for posting this tip. I have to admit that I might not have thought of the need to pull into the agriculture inspection station if all I had was non-plant items and no pets (other than the dog!).

were you pulled over because of the out-of-state tags and the dog or did the l.e.o. tell you that you had to have the trailer checked for suspect plants?

I know people who were pulled over there when they were pulling a horse trailer with furniture in it.

I'm thinking that the negative impact of exotic plants and animals (Burmese pythons, for one example) on the Florida habitat makes such inspections a vitally necessary inconvenience. Thanks for sharing your experience.

I have heard a number of horror stories about guys with enclosed race car trailers getting stopped for bypassing the agriculture station and then others getting yelled at for stopping. A no win situation regardless of what you do. It is a wonder just "really" are they looking for?

VG

There is a form and fee that you can get from your vet for your pet. We were taking our cat to TV and was informed by our vet the fee was $30 to transport over state lines.

Don't ask us if we paid the fee......the cat did come with us.

I came down with a 17 foot U-haul truck once and pulled in there to that check point and got yelled at for stopping. Told me it was really only for tractor trailers. Go figure.

Since then I brought 2 trailers behind my Tacoma, 3 truck loads no trailer, and a 15 foot U-haul and never stopped there again.

I have to admit that I've never noticed an agriculture station and I've traveled in and out of Florida many, many times.

I've never heard of having to have a form to bring a cat or a dog across a state line either. I'm going to have to start paying better attention.

Bureau of Uniform Services Locations, AgLaw - FDACS

There is a sign before the station that says all trucks and vehicles pulling any kind of trailer are supposed to stop for agricultural inspection.

I brought my cat over the border in 2009 and did not stop at the inspection station. I hope that she won't be deported. Maybe we can apply for Immigrant Amnesty!

Interesting.... because the sign just proceeding the agriculture inspection station on south bound I-75 clearly lists RENTAL TRUCKS as one class of vehicles that MUST stop for inspections.

We have made two rental truck trips to TV in past 60 days, stopping each time. The only questions we were asked regarded plants. Never anything mentioned about pets.

This agriculture inspection station expects ALL truck/trailer vehicles that could contain plants to stop. That is what we were told when we asked. They also did not seem too concerned about our house plants, but did asked more details about some of our garden plants we were bringing with us. In the end, both times were brief and courteous. We were quickly back on our way.

No big deal. :thumbup:

Don

On our trip from NC
 

We pulled in, they asked if we had any plants or animals, we said "No, just motorcycle and house stuff".....As we were pulling away, we remembered that we had a golf topiary, Ooops, Oh well!

Here's link on pet travel.

https://www.avma.org/public/PetCare/...-FAQs.aspx#cvi

Me too! We learn A LOT on this forum.

I am totally surprised by these posts. We have brought our two cats back and forth many times and pulled a trailer or drove UHaul several times in furnishing both homes here. Never saw the signs or knew anything about the requirement. Is this new? Is this just Florida?

If they don't check inside is this just another one of those costly but useless requirments?

i never notice the sign either

If the cat's illegal you can get a free Obamaphone, free in-state college tuition to any cat college, KEB credit card (Kitty Eats Better), and if she/he's over 9, free health benefits and a social security check every month. :highfive:
Oh, and she/he's automatically enrolled to vote.

BB

Has anyone actually had a problem with household pets? Coming down I never stopped. The person I know that got stopped with the horse trailer they did open the trailer, had her mother get out of the truck. I never understood it because they could see as soon as they opened the door it was couches.

It never crossed my mind to stop for dogs.

The US Border guards don't care at all when we bring two dogs into the US from Canada! In five years, they've never even asked for a Rabies Certificate. So I doubt they'd care interState. Although I dimly remember having to throw out an orange when I crossed the California/Nevada border.

I thought the stations were just for commercial/agricultural inspections.

Are these stations on all the major roads entering FL? We have never noticed them. We are heading down soon with a rental truck so I guess we need to be on the lookout for these signs/stations/cops!

The inspection stations are clearly marked and have been for years.

It is not useless. If you look at the record of the problems Florida has had in the past with importation of exotic and diseased plants and animals and the damage they have done you may see the need for these inspections. They can't possibly catch them all but they are trying.

There may be a tendency for some of us to not to take the signs seriously as we think they only apply to "real" trucks.

I agree. Also, Florida is very vigilant on horses being brought into the state as there are many infectious diseases of horses. Florida is very dependent on horses, cattle and our agricultural crops. We should be happy to pull over to protect these businesses. Arizona and California will not even let you bring one orange into the state.
We used to travel interstate often showing our horses. We always stopped and showed health papers and proof of required vaccinations. I really doubt if they care about your cat or dog.

answering your question
 

Njbchbum, to answer your question.I was pulled over because I did not stop at the agricultural inspection station. I did not see the sign to begin with. Even if I would have seen the sign, I would not have thought it was for us. After the officer stopped us, he asked us to open the door to the trailer. He asked if we had plants or animals other than our chihuahua in the back seat. We answered no. He saw we had furniture in the trailer and was satisfied. This happened on I-95 right after I drove over the Florida border. The officer noticed our NH plate and said all northerners make the same mistake. We now know we have to stop if we are hauling a trailer. Hope this information helps someone else. Nancy

We were aware of the ag. inspection on I-95 through our mover. I had to sign an affidavit for the mover stating that our outdoor furniture did not contain any gypsy moth or stink bug larva etc. Our mover said he was obligated to produce the form when they inspect the moving truck. We drove down stuff that would not go to storage in a 17 foot Uhaul with tow trailer with car. Hubby stopped at ag. station but was waived out of line with no stop. It was clear that the car contained house plants. Oh well I think they were way busy with tractor trailers that day. I didn't stop and kept going with the cats and pulling a 5x8 trailer with no problems.

Great. Molly, the 10 year old kitty, and I will be heading for TV tomorrow. How soon does Molly get her first SS check? :)

Okay, I'm confused I will be on the way in two weeks with a cat and two houseplants are they allowed or not?

Also I will be pulling a 5 x 8 trailer.

Wow I am totally confused about the above posts. I am traveling to the Villages in October from Alaska. I know I must have the dog health certificate to cross thru Canada from Alaska. So some of you are saying that when I cross Florida borders some of you had stopped (or not) at the agricultural station???
We will not be towing anything. However the back of the pickup will be full.
I will post our journey on line and inform you of our experiences crossing the border.

This has always been the law....As the sign on the highway says " trucks with trailers must enter scale " Nothing new....Some states has very good reasons for it...California for example ...Every vehicle has to go thru an inspection station to enter California....They will have you open your trunk or inspect your trailer....No Exceptions....It has been that way for many years...

Did you see Sunday Morning this morning? Might explain a few things....

Chances are you will not be required to stop - however, when you see the Florida Agricultural inspection station and a sign - pull over into it. It will take 10 minutes of your time and the officer will just ask what you have and then you leave. No hassle, no worry.