All of this BS has actually caused me to contact my taxidermist in RSA as Brick has mentioned above and make sure i am in compliance with these new regs. All my mounts are fully finished, so i don't anticipate any problem ... except for some warthog tusks and a jackal skull. They will now be mounted on plaques instead of just bleaching so they qualify as "finished" on the advice of my shipper and taxidermist. I hope they unscrew this soon as i am booked for round two in RSA this summer and the outcome of this shipment will certainly dictate how i handle trophies this upcoming year!
After learning of this surprise earlier this year, of course it occurred after the hunt took place, I have contacted many of the western contacts in the department to make sure I was up on the changes. Also, in high hopes there would be a return to the old methods.
True to form, no review but they now have a "complaint" line set up.
"If you don't agree with this policy this is who to call."
I just laughed.
Its true, there is no way Cattle infected with BSE can enter the country if trophies are shipped in plastic containers. Makes perfect sense... doesn't it???
Typical of our alarmist society, nothing has happened in all the years the old system was in place but "what if...". People with too much time on their hands have plenty of time to come up with this type of BS and use it to justify their jobs.
It actually cuts cost and reduces taxes by cutting down on the number of ticks the workers have to put on a piece of paper.
Just two boxes now:
A Finished trophies - release
B Unfinished trophies - hold disinfect
It allows them to have more time to do the important things like;
1. Inspecting our meat at slaughter facilities. What are a few cases of E Coli are found. No big deal.
2. Ensuring a deadly Avian Flu does not enter the country. It is not always best to be first but we have it.
3. Keeping the border safe from BSE is a good one.
Inside Canada is best, now that they let it in.
4. Keeping Brucellosis in the Bison herds isolated. No one tested for that one before release I guess.
Excuse my rant. If there were some rational reason I might be able to swallow this but,
"there have been a lot of dirty shipments from Africa" is pure crap.
That is what inspections are for!!!!
