I understand that shutting down a business you built from the ground up is never an easy decision. I truly have compassion for the difficult circumstances that may have led to this point. However, completely cutting off communication with clients who trusted the business, paid deposits, and are simply hoping for their animals or a completed product is not acceptable.
I don’t want to make this any harder on the shop or anyone involved, but the way things are being handled right now isn’t helping the situation. The animals I entrusted to the business are not easily replaced — the cost of the hunts alone would exceed $40,000. Brown Bears, in particular, are highly regulated by the State of Alaska and the Game Department, which makes the loss even more significant.
The last thing I want is to escalate this, but if communication continues to be nonexistent, my only remaining option would be to involve an attorney to pursue restitution for the hunts, and potentially notify the game department regarding the disappearance of trophy animals. When a business shuts down and vanishes with a customer’s property, it can lead to civil legal action and, in some cases, criminal investigations for theft.
I honestly hate even having to bring these things up, but at this point the situation doesn’t look promising, and I am growing increasingly concerned.
