AIR TRAVELER CAUGHT WITH LOAD OF LIVE LEECHES

Security at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport caught a man carrying a large quantity of live leeches in his carry-on luggage. Ippolit Bodounov had flown from Russia to Canada last October with the leeches — 4,788 of them — which were kept in 10 small, wet cloth bags tucked in a reusable grocery bag. The leeches were identified as a species of medicinal leech which can sell for up to $20 each. They are used to improve blood flow in human fingers or toes that get reattached, but some believe they work in other ways, such as preventing hair loss. That claim has never been proven. Mr. Bodounov pleaded guilty in an Ontario court last Friday to charges that he violated the Wild Animal and Plant Protection International Trade Act. He was fined $15,000.
* …and sentenced to three dunkings in the town well, and a week in the stocks.
* Said a spokesman for the airline: “We’ll do the blood sucking around here, thank you very much.”
* “Gee, Bob, your hair looks great. What’s your secret?” “Leeches.”
* Stay bald or use leeches. That’s a tough one.
* This guy transporting live leeches violates “Wild Animal Protection”, but the French eat 700 million snails a year. What the hell?