Red Flags we should have heeded

The following is a list of red flags that we did not heed and why we should have. Read through and learn from our mistakes. That is what this website is all about. I will list the red flag, why it should be considered a red flag and what to do in a similar situation. Please, learn from this and don't let the same thing happen to you!

Mrs. Galpin was crossed off the list of potential breeder to buy from.	If a breeder is crossed off your list, they should stay crossed off unless there is a very good reason to put them back on. If they are put back on, reevaluate very carefully why they were crossed off in the first place. Don't back down on your values just because they ask you too.
Mrs. Galpin sent an email stating an exqueen would be given for free if a kitten was bought from her.	Always beware of the word FREE. It is usually not what it seems. In this case, free meant paying for the spay operation which was $95. The correct wording should have been the exqueen would be given for the cost of spay if a kitten was bought. Also, if a breeder is giving away her breeding stock for "free", beware. What is wrong with the animal? (i.e. why can't the breeder sell it for at least pet price?). In this case, the exqueen was carrying a genetic defect known as fluxating patella.
Mrs. Galpin can not hold up to the prearranged schedule. Mrs. Galpin calls the buyer at work to encourage her to come pick up the cat early due to overcrowding.	An Ethical breeder will never run out of room to hold an animal because they do not over breed. An ethical breeder will arrange their animals to be picked up at the same time to minimize stress on the animals. If a breeder suddenly does not have room to hold an animal for you, reevaluate what kind of breeder she is. Is she over breeding or is there a valid reason why overcrowding occurred? Also, if a breeder is interrupting your work time to talk about personal dealings, reevaluate your dealings with her. If she can not respect you enough to wait until you get home, will she respect you in other areas of your life? Take this very seriously and make sure you are comfortable with how the breeder treats you.
Mrs. Galpin sent an email stating payment was needed before the animal was picked up.	ALWAYS find out how payment is expected and see a contract before sending any type of payment. ALWAYS see the contract before agreeing to pay. Never be satisfied that the breeder says she has one and no one has ever complained before. Be aware of the breeder. Don't send a full payment before the animal is received unless you feel comfortable with the breeder. ALWAYS get a receipt of how much you paid and how (i.e. check, money order).
Mrs. Galpin sent an email stating the exqueen has a condition known as Fluxating Patella, but that it will most likely go away because she has been spayed.	An ethical breeder will come forward with any pre-existing conditions BEFORE payment is made. If you are interested in an animal that has an unknown condition, learn everything you can about it before going forward with the purchase. Know for yourself if the condition is something that can be treated easily or if it will take many vet visits and time to heal. In this case, the Fluxating Patella is a genetic disease that will NEVER go away and is progressively degenerative. Vets bills incur every year as X-Rays are required to chart the progress of degenerative. Eventually, surgery may be required. Medicines are given to her every day, again a reoccurring bill that was not accounted for when the purchase was made.
Mrs. Galpin sent an email stating she is going to a wedding the day of pickup. She then sends another saying she won't go.	An ethical breeder will have the animal ready to go when you arrive, especially if you are traveling a great distance. Some breeders go out of their way to make sure the animal has familiar surroundings such as a blanket, a toy, a small bag of food, receipts, papers on care, etc for the new owner to take. An ethical breeder is not one that makes conflicting plans. This not only stresses the new owners, but the animals involved in the exchange. If the breeder does make conflicting plans, reevaluate how this breeder is treating you as a person. Were the plans made by accident? If you are traveling a long way, is the breeder putting you over local plans? In this case, the breeder made plans to meet us, then informed us of the wedding, then informed us she would not go. We got into town early, and called her right away so that she would be able to meet us and still go. Although she said she was not going to go, we were not able to meet her until 11:30 P.M.
Mrs. Galpin states the she can not accept a check made out to her cattery.	This is a HUGE red flag. Always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS make sure the cattery you are buying from is licensed. A cattery should be licensed in several ways, through TICA and/or an organization recognizing the breed, and by the city, county and/or state they live in. In this case, the breeder was recognized by TICA and TIBCS but NOT by the county or state, both of which require breeding licenses to be obtained. This was a major no-no because not only was this breeder not licensed, but she was not paying state income on the kittens she sold. You can find out if a breeder is recognized by TICA and/or another organization by visiting their websites and doing a search. Don't assume that the breeder is recognized just because they have the logo on their website. To find out if a breeder is licensed, or needs to be licensed in the city, county, and/or state they live in, simply call the county commissioners office. They can tell you most of what you need to know, or give you information on where to get the information.
When viewing kittens, the mother becomes very agitated and hides the kittens when we leave the room.	Mother cats (or any animal) will want to protect their young, especially at a very young age. What you should look out for is extremes. Is the mother and her kittens in a comfortable place? They will have to be isolated due to behavior changes during the times when the kittens are very young, but look around and make sure they are not put into solitary confinement. Ask how many times a day the breeder visits the mother and the kittens. Ask at what age the kittens are handled. If a breeder handles the kittens from the time they are born, the mother will not feel that there is any danger when they are handled later. This will also get the kittens used the human touch very early on. If you see any indication that the breeder is not caring for the mother and her babies, back away. Even if you traveled a long distance, it is better to back away and go to someone that cares for their animals than support this kind of breeder. Many times animals that come from this kind of environment will become ill or not have good temperaments simply due to neglect.
Mrs. Galpin points out a kitten that is ready to go. She asks if we would like to take her, then changes her mind stating that the kitten will "probably rosette" but that we didn't know what that meant.	There are several red flags here. An ethical breeder will not offer kittens that they are going to keep for their breeding program. They also will not keep a kitten to breed on the off-chance that it will conform to regulations and standards. A good breeder, especially one that has been breeding for several years, will know what their kittens will develop into. An ethical breeder will not use terms that they assume the buyer does not know and then condemn them for not knowing. In this case, everybody knew what the term meant and Mrs. Galpin's condescending remark and tone were just that, condescending. If a breeder treats you in this way, reevaluate why you are giving them your money. You don't have to support this kind of behavior! NOBODY deserves to be treated badly! Again, even if you traveled a long distance, back away. Even if you leave and come back the next day and try again, that is better than having bad feelings between you. An ethical breeder will want to make sure that there are no bad feelings so that he/she will be able to check up on the kitten once in awhile.
Mrs. Galpin does not give the registration papers for the exqueen stating we will not need them for anything.	When buying a registered animal, even if an exbreeder, the papers for that animal will always stay with that animal. When a breeder retires a breeder from their program, they transfer the ownership of that animal stating on the registration transfer that the animal is now a pet and can not produce offspring any longer. In this case, we insisted so strongly that the papers went with the exqueen, that Mrs. Galpin finally relented and found them. Be aware of your rights as a buyer and owner. Without the registration papers, could Mrs. Galpin have changed her mind and wanted the exqueen back? Very possibly, and the law would be on her side because Mrs. Galpin had the papers and she did not have any kind of transfer of ownership ready for us to take with us. VERY big red flag!!
Mrs. Galpin does not have any type of receipt or transfer of ownership for us. She states that we will not need one.	Always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS get a receipt for the money you put down for a deposit and for the money you spend to get the animal. NEVER take the breeders word that one is not necessary. An ethical breeder will always keep records of their animals and who they go to. As a buyer protecting yourself, you will want a receipt or proof of purchase so that if anything happens in the future, you have it. In this case, again, after strong insistence on our part, Mrs. Galpin handwrote a quick note stating we gave her money for a deposit and for the exqueen. It wasn't ideal, but it was more than walking out empty handed!
Mrs. Galpin returns to her old tricks of calling the buyer both at home and at work, asking when the kitten can be picked up, as it can not fly due to heat embargos.	Again, there are several red flags here. An ethical breeder will know the time of year that their kittens will be ready to go and inform the buyer of any restrictions on shipping. Some buyers will wait, others will want a kitten from another litter so that they can make other plans, instead of shipping it. An ethical breeder will not mind holding the kitten until arrangements can be made or offering a kitten from a different litter. In this case, Mrs. Galpin called to make arrangement to fly the kitten to Salt Lake City, over 400 miles away. After agreeing, she then calls and says she can not longer do that as it would require her to drive 30 miles to the next town.
Mrs. Galpin refuses to refund the deposit on the kitten unless the exqueen is returned. If the rest of the money for the kitten is not paid, or the exqueen returned, Mrs. Galpin states she will sue us.	An ethical breeder will NEVER force you to buy a kitten from them once a deposit is made!!! In this case, we wanted a refund on the deposit until we were moved (we were moving to a new state) and could come pick the kitten up ourselves, rather than fighting with heat embargos. Mrs. Galpin's threat to sue was a bluff that worked for her this time. She uses this bluff with us two years later and is not taken seriously.
Mrs. Galpin calls to state she is sending the kitten with her sister to Arizona and we need to make arrangements to pick him (the kitten) up from there.	An ethical breeder will not play games as to where the kitten is. If you agree to have a third-party transport the animal to you, make sure you are not paying double shipping (i.e. shipping the breeder charges AND shipping the third-party charges) unless this is something you agreed on up front. An ethical breeder will not put the animal under undue stress. If the situation calls for stressful periods for the animal, the breeder should try and find another way or offer an animal from a later litter when other arrangements can be made. In this case, Mrs. Galpin charged us for shipping, for a carrier we did not receive, for a health certificate we did not receive (and the kitten was sick), for her sisters gas to the rendezvous point (which we refused to pay) and we had to pay for our own gas to get to the rendezvous point (almost 250 miles away).
Mrs. Angle (Mrs. Galpin's sister) refuses the money order for the remainder of the payment. She talks on the phone with Mrs. Galpin and they suspect us of counterfeiting the money order, asking for $300 in cash instead.	An ethical breeder will agree upon a form of payment and honor that agreement. In this case, a money order was agreed upon, and then Mrs. Galpin claims she changed her mind and sent an email. As we had just moved, we did not have internet access in our home and did not receive that email until we returned home. The time stamp of the email stated it was sent at 1:00 that morning. Also, to accuse someone of counterfeit is just plain wrong! A good course of action would have been to leave instead of trying to convince them it was real. However, we did convince them and got our kitten. As a buyer, respect yourself. There is no reason to lower your standards or yourself for people like this! To this day, I regret many of the demeaning actions I took that day and would change them if I had a chance.
Both cats are taken to the vet. Both suffer intestinal problems, show effects of being underfed, and the kitten has ear mites.	An ethical breeder will NEVER sell or ship a sick animal. If the animal is sick when the buyer receives it, and the buyer has a vetrinarian's bill showing the animal is sick, the breeder should work with the buyer. Some breeder will replace the animal, others will help with the vetrinarian bills. ALWAY contact the breeder if the animal is sick. In this case, the breeder was contacted and past vet bills were requested. The breeder denied the kitten was sick and stated we were lying.
TIBCS and the BBB of Washington State were contacted. A representative of TIBCS called and stated nothing could be done but that a note would be make.	TIBCS exists to monitor Bengal Breeders. They have a set of rules that the breeders are supposed to follow and abide by. If you suspect or have evidence that a breeder is not abiding by these rules, file a complaint. NEVER be satisfied that nothing can be done. Ask if there is not a probation period that can be put on the breeder. If the rules are broken, what is the punishment? Make sure you talk to multiple representatives and get the same ruling. You may feel like you are making more of something than you should. If this is the case, ask yourself, was I treated fairly? Should I stop and let someone else be treated the way I was? Always remember to respect yourself! Don't back down on your values and your self-respect just because a breeder treated you badly!

If even one or two of these red flags would have been heeded we may have saved ourselves LOTS of heartache in the end. We are wiser now. It is hard to write how many things we did wrong. I keep thinking, why did we keep dealing with this woman?? We were young and inexperienced and she knew that and took advantage of us. I want to share it with you so that it doesn't happen to you. Even if you aren't young, people can still take advantage of you. Be aware of your rights, be aware of yourself. Respect yourself. Please, learn from our mistakes and don't go through the misery that we are going through.