Hi All

I have taken on a little challenge for a national pet society to try and clamp down on animals (cats in particular) being advetised on "free ad" sites , and/or being offered for free on sites such as "freecycle" and others. I would be really grateful if you could Pm me if you come across any of these, and I will give you my email to send the link to. At the moment, I am in research stage and have to present a "case" in a few months at regional level.

On a sort of side line, I have also been looking at the offers of "bengal" kittens online from non-recognised sources. I have listed below some of the ads I found this evening. If any of these appear to be genuine, please let me know. Thanks.

http://www.kittenads.co.uk/stunning_ben ... vert/14600

http://www.kittenads.co.uk/snow_spotted ... vert/13245

http://www.kittenads.co.uk/female_benga ... vert/12555

http://www.kittenads.co.uk/bengal_kitte ... vert/12848

http://www.kittenads.co.uk/2_pedigree_b ... vert/12326


http://www.kittenads.co.uk/silver_bronz ... dvert/6233


http://www.kittenads.co.uk/bengal_kitte ... dvert/6222

http://www.kittenads.co.uk/bengal_male_ ... dvert/5966

http://www.kittenads.co.uk/home_trained ... dvert/5319

http://www.kittenads.co.uk/bengal_kitte ... dvert/3635[/url]

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I think some of these look like Bengal kittens

especially these


I also feel that many genuine breeders advertise on such sites to sell kittens that may be difficult to sell on their website or on the Bengal kitten list. Some breeders are in areas where another breeder may be willing to take a smaller price to be able to sell kittens, those breeders are thus in a competitive market and need to price accordingly else they will be left with lots of kittens. Some breeders have gone out of business due to this scenario.
Some are close to a big breeder who sells cutting edge kittens and thus they cannot compete on a quality scale nor on the choice that said big breeder can offer potential new owners. They are then left with kittens to sell and will therefore reduce prices in order to move kittens out and go on to their next litter which may be imminent.

Also on the Bengal kitten list, 34 breeders are advertising kittens in the last 7 days. Approx 170 kittens if you assume an average of five per litter and it may be more as some breeders are advertising multiple litters. It is a lot of kittens from one breed to sell in such a short period. And that is not counting those still to be sold from the June advertisers.

Breeders tend to have quick turnovers of cats so there is always going to be adults that require new homes as they need sold quickly to allow room for new breeding cats. The free ads give some the chance of a cheap usually young ex breeding Bengal.

There are also breeders and breeders, so some are in a "good" area for selling Bengals, some have top quality Bengals and can afford to buy the best, some can also breed really good cats, but others are not in that position, they are selling OK or poor cats in areas where it is very difficult to sell Bengals.
The recession is also another issue, some are dumping their cats and dogs in rescue and definitely not looking to buy any. Some of those ads may be people who cannot afford to keep their Bengals any longer, pet owners may have just lost the paperwork.

So although I would love to see a clamp down on BYB and the wholesale churning out of kittens willy nilly. Free ads and the like is a place where often quite legitimate people sell their kittens and ex breeding cats. I think that is more preferable than cats being put down, which some breeders will do if they cannot rehome their breeding cats and space is needed for new ones.

some of the adverts are real, one is selling breeding queens and another a kitten, some are moggies.
I dont find gthe wording odd 2-3years of age 1-3months of age?? Well how old are they as thats a big of a difference?!

I dont see anything wrong with selling on those sites, you have to start somewhere and I think if reputable breeders advertise on them then the people looking to buy can make a choice between pretend un health tested kittens and the real thing.

I know which I would go for!

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Miki & My Beloved Bengals http://mybelovedbengals.blogspot.com/

Shiloh, Darcy, Rudy The Roodster & Ozzy...

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Owned by two housecats and a bengal

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Best Wishes,
Karen <UK>
http://www.suntouchedbengals.com
http://www.bengalbreedersunited.co.uk

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http://www.bengalcat-ziggianshowcats.co.uk

Anyone who wants a Bengal needs to do research into what they are getting, what a real Bengal kitten looks like and whether the " breeder" can answer some fundamental questions about the breed.
A buyer should also visit and decide whether they like the breeder, whether they can trust the breeder, whether the kittens and cats are looked after well and whether there is anything dodgy about the set up.

Do not assume anything. "Reputable" breeders can be untrustworthy and a "BYB" can be a lovely person with some nice sociable well looked after kittens. A multi-breed person can have a very well run establishment and a one breed breeder with a beautiful website can have kittens in rabbit hutches or in the back of a filthy bedroom.

Expensive kittens can be well worth the money or can be a rip off. Buyers need to have all their wits about them and if it all sounds too good to be true then it probably is.

There will always be BYB, If they buy a "bengal" off one of these sites for £250 then breed it and it has 5 kits, they then sell these for £250 thats a nice little sum for someone whos put no effort into it, no stud fee no vaccinations, cheap food then kittens are shipped off way to young! The only way it will stop is for buyers to start realising the effort real breeders put into breeding REAL bengal kits.

I do not condone these free advertising sites, i would use them myself if need be.