# Sketchy breeder



## katherinep91 (Apr 11, 2013)

Hi all, 
Was looking to get some opinions on my situation...As some of you might have read in my last post, my little kitten has been diagnosed with FIP...the whole situation has been absolutely heartbreaking..As of now, he is still with me, but his bloating is slowly growing worse, and he has lost a lot of weight. The vet prescribed him a steroid, which seems to make him feel a bit better, and his appetite is pretty good, but he is pretty lethargic.
Before I get into the story, I got him from a non registered bengal breeder I found on kijiji. I know the whole thing about buying from backyard breeders, and the negative things about it, but as a student, I will not be able to afford a bengal cat from a registered breeder any time soon, and I absolutely love the breed and the personality...so please don't give me flack for this. 
Anyways, getting to the point, the breeder was 3 hours away from me. So after falling in love with the pictures of him, I took a risk and bought him. When I went to pick him up, I was a bit sketched out by the facility. To begin with, the breeder probably had about 30 dogs in various pens and paddocks on her property. When we got inside her house,she had one room equipped with various pens, and in this one room, she housed 2 litters of kittens, as well as 3 litters of puppies. The room was definitely not the cleanest. As i said, i was a bit sketched out, but the breeder seemed nice enough, and appeared to like her animals, so I brought Saren home. 
Events continued as they did, and now I am in the situation that I am in. In my research on FIP, it seems that it is linked to kittens growing up in poor living conditions, and that kittens from the same litter are more likely to develop it. I e-mailed the breeder and told her of my situation, but never heard back from her. I assume this is because she probably thinks I want another kitten from her(because he did come with a health guarantee promising a replacement kitten or something. obviously i dont want another kitten from her). Now I don't really care that she doesnt want to be a grown up and respond to me, nothing she can say will make me feel better, or give me my healthy kitten back, but I am concerned about her breeding operation.
Maybe she is aware that the cats she is breeding have a genetic disposition towards this, and isn't telling people. I'm sure she hasn't sent an e-mail out to everyone who purchased a cat from Saren's litter being like 'hey, you should know about this'. I know for a fact that she is still breeding Saren's parents, because I see her adds on kijiji. Even if the case with Saren is a one off, she still is pumping kittens out like no tomorrow...
Is there anything I can do about this?What would you guys do? It jsut makes me so upset knowing that there could be other people who are getting kittens with FIP, and will have to go through what I have.


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## katherinep91 (Apr 11, 2013)

Might have posted this in the wrong category..sorry guys!


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

I'm very sorry about Saren. As I said before I hate FIP so badly.

I would definitely report the breeder if the conditions were unsanitary, and the breeder's ethics were sketchy. The more BYBs are reported, the better for the long term health of the animals and the humans who love them.

If you want to go after her for selling FIP kitties, I think the best route would be to say she's not living up to her end of the health guarantee. Because so little is known about the disease, it's difficult to say her animals' living conditions or genetics are more likely to lead to FIP. The epidemiology just doesn't have clear statistics yet.

But definitely find the proper authorities in the jurisdiction with your contract in hand to make the report, and make it.


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## Jacq (May 17, 2012)

There are a few other things you can do, as well, which are basically just signal boosting your bad experience to a wider audience.

1 - You can report her to Kijiji and report any of her ads currently up.
2 - You can "Name & Shame" on sites like Ripoff Report, Kijiji, local or interest groups (for example, in calgary there's the beyond, even your city's facebook page/radio station)

I'm sorry about Saren. I really am. It's a heartbreaking lesson to have to learn and it's not his fault.


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

You could report her to your local humane society. she is abusing her kitties and puppies by allowing them to live in poor conditions. Unfortunately, your tale is too common, and these BYBs are only out for $$$, they really don't care about their cats or puppies at all if they are sick. The more BYBs that can be shut down the better. Good luck!


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

You knew all the negative things about buying from a breeder, and now you've learned the most important one... that as long as there are people who "can't afford to buy from a real breeder so they pick her" then she's going to keep pumping out kittens that are sick.

I don't see what you can do now that you've given her your money. You could go after her but if you ask for your $$ back you'll have to give up Saren. You could report her to the BBB(or equivalent) but when someone is looking for a cheap purebred cat they don't usually do their homework (Did you check her out with BBB?). You could report her to the local Humane SOciety (or equivalent) or she may be breaking some city code breeding animals...

The fact of the matter is as long as there are people looking for cheap Bengals (like you were) she's going to be selling them.


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

How disgusting this person is for KNOWINGLY breeding sick cats, I am so beyond disgusted right now. I would make sure everyone knows what she is doing, report her to every place I could. I'm just thinking about her dogs and cats in pens, it makes me so sad. I wish I could unread this post. This is awful  I hope she gets what she deserves one day. 

As for her seeming to love her animals, no, don't think so. NO true animal lover keeps animals in cages in dirty conditions, and continues to breed cats they know are DYING! Disgusting!


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## Wannabe Catlady (Aug 6, 2012)

I would publicly shame this woman on as many sites as possible and report her to animal control for animal abuse / hoarding.

It's frustrating to see breeders like that, that I'm sure are just raking in money by providing 'discount' designer cats with absolutely no health care. Ugh. 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## katherinep91 (Apr 11, 2013)

Thanks guys, I definitely am going to try to report her everywhere I can..I have already started reporting her kijiji adds.
Just because I bought him from a non registered breeder doesn't mean I didn't care and threw all caution to the wind....I tried to do the most amount of research on her humanly possible,but its pretty hard to find things about people who don't have actual businesses. I fell into the naïve thinking pattern of 'it won't happen to me', and its obviously not something I'm going to do again,hence why I started my post off as I did...I don't care about getting money from her or anything....I'm not trying to dodge responsibility for my actions, or say I don't deserve what happened to me, but the animals there don't deserve it, and I just think if there is anything I could do to help people not have to go through what I did,itd be worth it.


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## CatMonkeys (Sep 27, 2012)

katherinep91 said:


> Just because I bought him from a non registered breeder doesn't mean I didn't care and threw all caution to the wind....I tried to do the most amount of research on her humanly possible,but its pretty hard to find things about people who don't have actual businesses.


If you can't find any reputable information about a business, that's a red flag for most people, especially one that you know is a backyard breeder. It's good that you're reporting her to the authorities.


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## lovetimesfour (Dec 1, 2010)

If this back yard breeder is shut down because the OP purchased a sick kitten and reports them, then the purchase, and the little baby's death, while heartbreaking, has served a purpose.

I, too, get angry when people purchase from these awful people. But....if this one is shut down, it was all worth it. Looks like they sold to the wrong person (for them) this time, doesn't it?

As long as the OP follows through. Please, please follow through.

I hope you have reported her to your local SPCA, any vets you know of, anyone you may know who works in rescue. Report her to EVERYONE. Then, your precious baby will not have suffered in vain.

Keep all receipts. Press charges.


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## gizmothecat (Jun 26, 2013)

Sighs..I love that breed too...well I love all cat breeds  .. Of course she was nice to you....she just wanted your money...that's what its ALL about  and she will contine to breed sick animals this way until she is shut down..maybe contact a group for this breed in particular...a rescue group...they would help you shut her down. 

I agree with the other posters...contact anyone you can think of

One of my dog rescues was from a puppmill raid in texas  (I'm in ny but loved my breed and wanted to help) I know all about puppymills and backyard breeders...and if I could ...(this is the nice PG version of what I would do) I would strangle every single one of them

Don't buy from petstores....rescue one from your shelters, or search for the rescue group of that breed...I'm sure they have some waiting for adoption, if your going to buy from a breeder...do your research. A lot of us have learned this lesson the hard way


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

That's the problem, lots of people know they shouldn't buy from a person like this but do in the hopes that they will get 'lucky' and their pet won't get sick.

What they don't realize is that by buying they are supporting this breeder and allowing them to continue to pump out babies and mis-use/abuse these animals.

I agree, make it right. GO get her with everything you have and with every organization you can find. Try the local news as well, this is a perfect platform to let EVERYONE in the area know she's a crappy backyard breeder with sick animals.


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