Dear Valued Highveld Taxidermists Client, Thank You for Giving Us The
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Dear Valued Highveld Taxidermists Client, Thank you for giving us the opportunity to take care of your hunting trophies. Highveld Taxidermists has served hunters from all parts of the globe for over 30 years and our firm is regarded as one of the top taxidermy studios in the world. Our stateoftheart technology and superb craftsmanship ensure you of museumquality trophies. At Highveld, we do not use commercial forms only those of our own exclusive design and creation. All work, inclusive of tanning, is undertaken on site to obtain the best possible results. With a staff compliment of 71 skilled artisans, we are equipped to handle any taxidermy orders, from a field mouse to a full body elephant mount. For your information and peace of mind, we have explained the taxidermy and shipping process below: Receiving and booking in of trophies: We will make arrangements with your outfitter to either collect your trophies from the hunting ranch or have them delivered to our studios. Once you choose to use our services, you do not have to lift a finger we will take it from there. As we are hunters ourselves, we understand how valuable your trophies are to you and thus we take special care in tagging them with a 5 digit unique order number as soon as we receive them. All items are marked with an acid resistant tag. After tagging and entering your trophies in our system, we take photos of the skulls and email these to you to confirm that we have indeed received the correct trophy for you. Thereafter you will receive quotes for the three services that we offer: 1. Full taxidermy service with a lifetime guarantee 2. Dipping and disinfection only, which is at your risk due to the nature of the process 3. Tanning of all your skins ready for use by your taxidermist Taxidermy orders: With over 30 years’ experience we pride ourselves being amongst the best taxidermists in the world. All work is done inhouse to insure the highest quality custom made trophies. Hunting photos are always welcome so that we can use them as reference during the taxidermy process to enable us to make trophies as natural and true to life as possible. We will send you a quote for the order and work closely with you in giving you advice on how to best display the trophies. We FULLY GUARANTEE our taxidermy orders and assure you of the utmost best quality! Please note: Poses are always referred to from the animal’s perspective. Payment: Once we have agreed on the poses, we will require a 50% deposit to commence with the work. We are pleased to announce that we offer a 10 % discount on all taxidermy orders if they are paid in advance. Alternative payment options are available on request, eg. monthly installments to suit your specific needs. Please note that full payment is required before we will hand the trophies over to the shipping agent and you will receive a final invoice approximately 6 weeks before completion to avoid delays. Barbara Murray, our Financial Director, will be in touch with you regarding all accountrelated issues and you are welcome to contact her at [email protected] should you have any queries. Waiting Period: Our waiting period on fully processed orders is 1012 months from RECEIPT OF DEPOSIT or FULL PAYMENT. Taxidermy process: Once payment is received, we will start processing your trophies by tanning the hides and cleaning the skulls. After this stage is complete, we will then start shaping the manikins and will send you photos of these before we continue the taxidermy process if you have specified that you would like to receive photos to verify that your instructions have been followed in detail. Once the manikin is shaped, we then combine the it with the hide and skull to form your taxidermy mount. Drying takes approximately 8 weeks from the time the taxidermist has finished his work, after which the trophies go to the cosmetic department for final touches. This is a payment milestone and you will receive an invoice at this point if you have not already prepaid your order. Our taxidermy department will keep you posted on the progress of your order by sending you regular updates. Please feel free to correspond with us any time if you have any questions at all. The email address for queries on the taxidermy process can be forwarded to [email protected] Permits and export documents: We take care of all the relevant export permits and certificates needed for the shipping. However it is the client’s responsibility to apply for import permits for all CITES 1 species. Lisa Ferreira, our office manager, and Oxi Logistics, our shipping agent will gladly assist you with this process. Shipping: Once crating has been completed and export permits are on hand, your precious cargo will be handed over to our shipping agents, Oxi Logistics and they will be in contact with you to plan the delivery to your chosen address. DIP AND SHIP: Process explanation: Dipping and disinfection is a process that is laid down by the veterinary authorities of South Africa and is designed to kill pathogens and diseases, not to preserve the skins and skulls. It is simply a procedure to make the shipment safe for export. We are required to immerse the skins in an acid solution with a PH of less than 2.5 for 48 hours, after which we dry and resalt the skins. The skulls are cleaned completely and bleached using a Hydrogen Peroxide solution. Before crating, the skins are treated with Carba dust (fine white powder that you’ll see on the skins). As the skins are still raw and no dip and ship facility in the world will guarantee hide quality when the shipment arrives at your taxidermist. For example, if the crate is being transferred off the plane and it is raining, water that seeps into the crate will cause damage to the skins by promoting bacterial growth. Unlike tanning, the skins will still continue to decompose, so it is very important to process them as quickly as possible. Please note that Highveld Taxidermists takes no responsibility whatsoever for bacterial damage resulting in hair loss on dip and ship hides. The trophies will be handled by many different people once leaving our establishment and due to the fact that they are still raw, we cannot take responsibility for bacterial damage. Payment: We require payment upfront for this service to enable us to apply for the export permits needed for this shipment. Waiting period: Our waiting period on dipping and disinfecting is 3 to 5 months from receipt of payment and is mostly due to the delay in obtaining government export permits. Permits and documentation: We will apply for all relevant permits and export documents that are needed to transport your trophies to their final destination. In the case of CITES I trophies, we will ask you to apply for the CITES import permit, but will guide you in this process. Shipping: Once the dipping process has been completed and the permits are on hand, the trophies are handed over to the shipping agent, who will be in touch with you regarding the shipping costs and details. Once it arrives at the destination, the crate will undergo customs clearance and Fish and Wildlife inspection. The trophies have to be sent to a USDA approved establishment and cannot be sent to your residence. Risks and disclaimer: Please note that this process does not fully preserve your hides and Highveld Taxidermists takes no responsibility whatsoever for bacterial damage once the hides arrive. Modified Alum Tanning: Process explanation: Using the latest modified alum tanning technology, we can process your hides so that your taxidermist can start work on them straight away without having to send them to a tannery first. We use only BASF® products and our process is designed by specialist BASF® tanning technicians. All hides are hand shaved to prevent machine damage. We FULLY GUARANTEE the quality of our tanned hides. We work closely with your taxidermists back home in giving them assistance and guidance on how to rehydrate the skins so that they can place them on the mounts without any problems. Payment: We require payment upfront for this service and will start processing the hides only once payment is received. Waiting period: We work on a turnaround time of 6 months for the tanning service. Permits and documentation: We will apply for all relevant permits and export documents that are needed to transport your trophies to their final destination. In the case of CITES I trophies, we will ask you to apply for the CITES import permit, but will guide you in this process. Shipping: Once the dipping process has been completed and the permits are on hand, the trophies are handed over to the shipping agent, who will be in touch with you regarding the shipping costs and details. Once it arrives at the destination, the crate will undergo customs clearance and Fish and Wildlife inspection. The trophies can either be consigned to your home or business address or to your taxidermist directly. Shipping: Export from South Africa: We have a working relationship with Oxi Logistics. Shipping of hunting trophies is a specialized field and it is not advisable to use a general shipping agent that does not deal with trophies. In our experience, using a general freight agent has always resulted in problems and even confiscation of trophies. Shipping process: Once your trophy crate has been completed, Highveld Taxidermists will hand it over to Oxi Logistics, who will then contact you with the different options for shipping and the relevant quotations: 1.