Nexus card taken away for possession of dog repellent - Dangers at the US / Canada border

Hi David~I have a question for you~I had my car searched as a "Nexus Compliance requirement" by Homeland Security.

In the glovebox the Canadian officer found a 3 inch Domestic Dog Repellant-made in Canada. Please see attachment pictures...

The officer told me I had a weapon-she then gave it back to me???? Doesn't this qualify me to have my card re-instated, as having the "WEAPON" returned to me????? ( I DON'T BELIEVE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN RETURNED to me if the issue was so important!!!)

Then a couple of days later, they cancelled my NEXUS card.

Can you please respond to this issue for me.

Thanking you for your expertise, always



david ingram replies:

There is no doubt that your cannister was illegal in Canada and I do not understand why it was returned.

The law clearly states that dog or bear spray is only legal if in a 225 ml or larger container. This is to stop its being concealed in the palm of your hand.

Read on


— Prohibited Weapons Order, No. 8, made by Order in Council P.C. 1979-2141 of August 9, 1979.

The Criminal Code itself includes switchblades and flick knives in the definition of "prohibited weapon" in subsection 84(1). Prohibited weapons can be possessed only by specially licensed businesses, such as those that supply movie productions with a variety of weapons for use in filming or those that supply police with items such as pepper spray.

The only substantive change which is being made to the prohibited weapons class involves pepper spray. Prohibited Weapons Order, No. 1 currently covers devices designed to incapacitate people. This has led to uncertainty in enforcement where devices are marketed as being intended as animal repellents, such as for the control of dogs in urban settings or bears in wilderness areas. The redrafted item — part 3, item 2 — makes it clear that any device that is capable of being used to incapacitate people is a prohibited weapon if it involves tear gas, mace or pepper spray. An exception is made for devices involving pepper spray if they are designed for the control of wild animals, such as bears, and have a capacity of 225 grams or 225 millilitres or more.Smaller pepper spray devices, which are intended for use against people and which come in canisters that are easily concealable, will be clearly prohibited, as it is these devices that pose the major risk of criminal use and the most risk to public safety. Large "bear spray" devices, which have a legitimate use, will be clearly exempted.

The picture you showed is clearly too small and prohibited in Canada because it is too small. Why the Caandian guard gave it back to you to return to the US is beyond me. Maybe she phoned ahead and was hoping there was a more severe penalty in the US.

However, your unit is is clearly legal in every state in the USA.

There do not seem to be any restrictions in Washington State. And the size issue is interesting.

Wisconsin with a population of 5,500,000 will only allow you to have a canister which is between 15 and 60 ml.. Michigan with a poplation of 10,000,000says nothing bigger than 35 grams.

New York State, with a population of 19,000,000, will only allow you to buy it from a Licenced Firearms dealer or pharmacist but has no size restrictions and Massachusetts with a population of 6,400,000 will only allow purchase from a licenced firearms dealer.

With no rules in the other states, any size would seem to be legal.

No wonder we are all confused.

I have not had a chance to talk to anyone at NEXUS. However, I am throwing this out to the newsletter group which has both US and Canadian border people as members to see if anyone wants to offer an opinion and in particular to see if anyone knows of an appeal process.

And this is a warning to anyone else who has bear spray or dog repellent in their car or luggage. For the time being, it would seem to be a good idea to leave it at home if crossing a border. In this case the dog repellent has been in the lady's glove compartment (when she is not jogging) for at least seven years and she crosses the border 4 or 5 times a week.

What is that - 52 x's 4 = 208 times a year x 7 years is 1400 times across the border without a problem.

Another recent client was turned back from the US after about 150 times across the border and I am talking about multi-million dollars of Canadian Investment. That's a real border out there.

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