[Delphinus]

Another point to consider about buying locally, by doing so you increase the "street cred" of our LFS's because they then get to order that much more. What happens, they have to order so much of this and so much of that, and if they don't order "at least this much" then they get to play second fiddle to the bigger LFS's who get the preferential treatment. So by ordering from say the U.S., it actually could have a paradoxical effect, ie. it supports the view that the U.S. stores are selling more than Canada stores, and thus guarantees that "more stuff" will go that way instead of ours in the future.

Plus, shipments get delayed ... and water is hard to take on a plane .. etc. I think I'd only consider carrying livestock across the border if I was driving, and even then, the few times I've had the opportunity, I decided it wasn't worth the risk of getting tripped up on some procedural item or something like that.