Why Mailing Poop Stinks

By Amy E. Feldman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - As revenge gifts go, this one stinks.

An Iowa woman, angry that her neighbors called the police several times to report her barking dogs, mailed them a gift of cow poop from a website that sends cow poop. She said that after all the problems they had, she thought it would be a funny thing to do.

The mind boggles. Really? You thought the people who had already proven they will call the police on you would find it funny? And really? There's a website that mails poop? And really? You're surprised you were arrested?

But really, if there's a service that mails poop, doesn't that mean it's legal?

The law regulates three basic types of mail: hazardous, restricted and perishable material.

Hazardous material is anything that's capable of posing an unreasonable risk to the health, safety, or property of the mail carrier - like aerosols or gasoline which can't be mailed.

Restricted material wouldn't necessarily cause danger to the mail carrier, like tobacco or alcohol, but it is regulated for other reasons so you generally can't mail it.

Perishable matter is anything that can deteriorate in the mail which may be sent at the mailer's own risk only if it is packaged as required.

So, while mailing poop could conceivably be hazardous or perishable, the reason she was arrested probably wasn't for violating mail regulations, but for harassing people which she managed to do through the mail.

So now she's going to have not only the reputation as the whack job neighbor but a criminal record to boot. And that really stinks.