Manassas Company Caught With Chicken Skeletons in its Parcels

A Manassas company has some skeletons—not in the closet but in some packaging confiscated by federal agents at a Baltimore seaport this month. 

 A shipment of six boxes containing chicken skeletons arrived on July 5 from China. The shipment also included several baby chick bodies in display cases, said Stephen Sapp, a spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's public affairs office.  The latest shipment arrived Aug. 5 and included 12 skeletons. 

The skeletons were displayed for educational purposes and were perhaps going to be sold to other companies by the Manassas-based business, which isn't being identified because no criminal charges have been filed, Sapp said. 

Some of the skeletons were shipped with other research and educational products, such as microscopes, test tubes and thermometers.  Skeletons of other animals, such as fish, turtles, rats, snakes and bats were also included. 

The skeletons were seized at the port because they didn't have an impact permits from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he added. 

Additionally, the government of the exporting country, China, didn't issue an impact statement certifying the goods met the minimum standards of the USDA, Sapp said. 

The bird skeletons could pose a threat to the U.S. poultry industry because China is considered to have present Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) also known as the Bird Flu. 

Customs and border protection agriculture specialists issued an Emergency Action Notification to the Manassas importer requiring that the seven cases of chicken skeletons be destroyed or shipped back to China. 

Thoughts on the exposed skeletons? Tell us in the comments.