Pet Food Imports

[woofendog]

I have been crossing the U.S. Canada border for years now between Vermont and Quebec. Over the last few years I have been bringing back into Canada dry cat food (Meow Mix- Made in the USA.). Normally the customs officer would ask if there was any beef products in the cat food. I made sure to bring back the variety that does not contain any beef products. On a recent trip in April 2011, I was told by a customs officer that it was now okay to bring back cat food with beef as long as it was made in the USA.
My last day trip back was in May 2011 and I declared a bag of cat food. This was the same variety as the April trip and I was quite willing to pay any taxes and/or duties. The officer asked if I had the cat in the car with me to which I replied no. He then informed me that for the last two years, that in order to bring back cat food, the cat must accompany me on the trip to Vermont in order to bring back the cat food. He did not charge me any tax or duty but told me that the next time I would be taking the cat food back to the Vermont cottage if the cat was not in the car.
I have found information on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (Pet Food Program) that states the same including the fact that this imported food must only be fed to the cat who accompanies me on the trip!!!
Now I must decide what vacinated cat gets to go down on the next trip. I just hope that the customs officer doesn't expect him to fill out any declaration forms. I could always buy the same cat food at Walmart Canada at a much higher price as they only carry the small bags of the Hairball Control variety. Does anyone have any information on these regulations which I find quite amusing. Thanks