How do you know a Bengal breeder is both real and ethical?
Well. For one, they have complete contact information on their website, phone, and address. In my case, I have a Google Business listing. Google won’t allow a business listing without an associated address. Anyone can have a website. Only a physical business location can have a Google Business listing.
So in October of 2022, yet another prospective Bengal cat buyer told me how they were scammed. For all I know it’s the same person I’ve been hearing about since 2021. I first researched their secure server, which doesn’t associate their business at all. Their WHOIS information on their domain is blocked, but in fairness to many – this is usually done to stop spammers and domain hijackers.
Here are the many dead giveaways either not included or lied about of basic information every cattery and Bengal breeder should provide.
My most recent buyer was unaware that if you Zelle money to anyone, you have no recourse if you were induced to fraud. She lost hundreds of dollars and did not want to send a deposit to hold a kitten she wants. After researching her claim, I agreed to hold the kitten with payment made at the time of pick-up of her Bengal kitten.
Don’t make the same mistake others have made. Verify your Bengal breeder is a T.I.C.A. registered cattery. It’s no full guarantee the breeder is reputable but it’s one more checkmark in peace-of-mind column.
Real breeders have history, even if it’s only starting history. This means they can refer you to the cattery or Bengal breeder they acquired their breeding stock from. They’ll know something about their cats and why they invested in them. Just by asking your breeder to tell you about their breeding stock is an easy way to determine if they are real.
A Bengal cat breeder should be proud of its facilities and welcome you to visit. This means they won’t take issue with providing you with their address.
They should have a ready list of previous buyers to put you in touch with.
They’ll provide a contractual agreement for you to review before purchase. Again, BEFORE purchase. It will include details that protect both you and the breeder after the sale.
A legitimate breeder will require a deposit. It will be a reasonable amount that has the sole purpose of establishing there is a real sale pending for bother parties to rely on. In my case for a pet sale, it ranges from $100 to $300 unless the sale is pending within a few days, in which case the deposit can be higher.
If you really want to be a super sleuth, look at the metadata on photos sent to you of the Bengal kitten they intend to sell you. By looking at the property details of pictures, you’ll see everything from what type of phone they took the picture with to the date it was taken. This is very helpful if you are buying a kitten and they tell you it’s five weeks old in the photo but the metadata reveals the photo was taken six months or a year prior!
With that said, they should be willing to send you periodic photos of your new family member. So in a hypothetical situation where you have sent a $100 deposit and the photos tell a story other than the one the breeder asserts, you can thank your consumer insight for only being out $100 and not a few hundred or heaven forbid a thousand or two.
For now, be advised that the cattery outlined above is a fraud. FAKE.
I hope you gained a lot from this article and it helps you either decide to do business with me, or it helps you find a good Bengal cat breeder.
