Cat Breeder Switched Kitten

July 21, 2016 7:06 AM

Gave a (cat) breeder a down payment on a pedigree kitten BEFORE the kitten was born. Signed a contract with extensive agreements. It was mutually agreed I'd show the kitten. As the kitten matured, I received an email from the breeder stating it difficult for her to tell the kittens apart. I told her she should've collared them. At that moment, I began to feel uncomfortable that I may purchase the wrong kitty.

A few weeks passed when I received yet another email stating her daughter became attached to the kitten I chose. She asked if I would be interested in purchasing an ADULT instead. I replied with a firm, yet cordial email, I wasn't interested. I grew attached to the kitty whose photos she's sent me since birth. She replied, she was kidding.
At THIS point, I was guarded, however felt somewhat comforted(?) knowing she's ON THE BOARD of one of the MAJOR cat registries/associations, she wouldn't POSSIBLY mislead me.
A fifteen hundred mile drive and 23 hours later, I met the breeder with the kitten I clearly DIDN'T choose, though she passed him off as mine. My (HUGE)mistake was, I refrained from confronting her IMMEDIATELY, as it would have turned out disastrous. I was so tired from the drive after a short hotel stay along the way, I would have probably ended up in handcuffs. I purchased the (wrong) kitty anyway at full price and headed back home. At that point I was so aggravated, I was going to leave with SOMETHING - even if it were a mere photo of a cat!!!!
The day after returning home and catching up on sleep, I had a clear head to finally confront her. Her response: I was hoping no one would notice!! She claims she gave the previous buyer the kitten "I" chose, because as he matured, he fell apart and was no longer "show quality". This was HER reasoning behind the switch and APPARENTLY she didn't feel I would have understood that. Though she immediately agreed to give a full refund for the kitten during the conversation, I told her I'd keep him. My decision mostly had to do with the effort in travel time alone. Besides, I began a slowwww bond with the kitten on the drive back home. The breeder begged that I didn't mention this to anyone. So far I haven't - publicly - until now.
It's been 1 1/2 months since the purchase. I thought of calling the breeder to ask for part of the cost of the kitten back. It's is not sitting well with me. I'm constantly haunted by the fact I allowed her to get away with this, especially in the position she holds at the association. I'm not sure I have a right since so much time has passed. Also, I initially agreed to keep him. I was also thinking of exposing her to the association she belongs to. Please advise...

posted by scarbo to Pets & Animals (21 answers total)

You need to get as much of her acknowledgement that she knowingly gave you the wrong animal in writing as possible, and then you need to contact the association she's on the board of. She's in a position of power and she's abusing it.
posted by kate blank at 7:17 AM on July 21, 2016 [18 favorites]

IAAL, IANYL.
I'm not sure I have a right since so much time has passed.

If you were to pursue this from a legal standpoint, look up statute of limitations for breach of contract in your state. You'll have at minimum a few years to file if you wanted to pursue that route. That being said, you haven't made your case easier by accepting the wrong cat at two specific opportunities (first on sight, then refusing a refund). That isn't to say you'd lose your case, but this is something I'd bring up as the breeder in terms of a defense.

I'd start with contacting her outside. A calmly written letter, restating that:
* You appreciate her offer of a full refund on [date]. At that point, you had already spent [x] dollars and [y] time on traveling to pick up the cat, and did not want that amount spent go to waste.
* However you have thought about this further and are realizing that you still did not receive what you originally contracted for. In exchange, you are willing to accept a partial refund of [$X]. Please let me know what you think.

If she balks or refuses, then you can escalate by repeating the above letter, but stating that given that there was a breach, you're looking into your legal rights as well as a considering filing a complaint with the board.
posted by Karaage at 7:33 AM on July 21, 2016 [7 favorites]

If the kitten you have now is a suitable replacement in terms of showing, is there any basis for a partial refund? If it's just that it's not the kitten you were promised & became attached to, then I would think publicly complaining about get unprofessional behavior would be the better option. If there's a contract breach though, that might be a lawyer question.
posted by Baethan at 7:39 AM on July 21, 2016

If the kitten you have now is a suitable replacement in terms of showing, is there any basis for a partial refund?

Depends on contract terms.
posted by Karaage at 7:54 AM on July 21, 2016

Mod note: Couple of comments deleted. Folks, this is AskMe, please skip the unsolicited asides about shelter cats; if the buying-from-a-breeder thing bothers you, you can just pass this question by.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 8:10 AM on July 21, 2016 [7 favorites]

You are considering asking to be refunded for just part the cost of the kitten? Hell, I'd be demanding a full refund. This is blatant fraud on her part. That is absolutely nuts.
posted by bologna on wry at 8:24 AM on July 21, 2016 [7 favorites]

Best answer: IANYL. If I were in your shoes, I'd bluntly demand a full refund and a full release from the contract, based on her egregious breach of it and her fraud. Warn her that if she doesn't agree to this, you will disclose what occurred to everyone and will also seek legal recourse.

I would do this in writing. I'd keep copies of everything. If she tries to call you, politely demand a written response that meets your terms and hang up. If she does not respond fairly soon, I'd go get a lawyer and notify everyone who should be aware of this.

I'd add that I don't think any jurisdiction would ding you for waiting a month and a half to decide to take action.

Finally, try to treat this as an important business matter, not a reflection on you personally or something you need to brood about. She lied, that's on her, and she should make recompense. You need to go on with your life, disentangled from this, and enjoy your lovely kitten.

Also, picture please?
posted by bearwife at 10:42 AM on July 21, 2016 [3 favorites]

Wait, you want some (or all) of your money back, plus you want to keep the kitten? That doesn't sound exactly right. Did you get the pedigree papers you need to show the cat? Are they accurate, or would cat-show people reject them?

I think you have two problems going on: first, you got a cat that may or may not match its papers (or may or may not be showable, however that is established.) And second, you got a cat that (apparently) you like well enough and want to keep, even if you can't show it. (If you had planned to send the cat to the shelter if you couldn't show it, then that's something else again.)

I think it's easy to treat the paperwork problem as a breach of contract. The part about "I bought a cat from somebody who sells cats for a living, but now I want to keep the cat and also have my money back" doesn't reflect very well on you. (IMHO. IAAL, IANYL, I don't practice cat law.)
posted by spacewrench at 10:53 AM on July 21, 2016

Full refund. Having bought a puppy from a breeder, I'd be furious to learn I got a substitute, and that's without the added desire to show my pet. And of course you keep your sweet kitten. Not his fault!
posted by donnagirl at 10:53 AM on July 21, 2016

spacewrench, this breeder got money from scarbo for an item the breeder did not deliver. Instead, the breeder gave scarbo a counterfeit. That's grounds for demanding a refund, without returning the counterfeit. I doubt the police would dash to respond on this, but it is also fraud/theft.

Having said that, if the breeder offered scarbo a partial refund and a release from all obligations under the contract, scarbo could choose to accept that resolution.
posted by bearwife at 11:09 AM on July 21, 2016

I also wouldn't put it past her that she actually gave the original kitten you wanted to her daughter and lied about having given that feline to a "previous buyer" just to make it sound like that kitten was no longer accessible to you.

If that daughter has some social media accounts, she might throw up pictures of the kitten she now has. If I was in your shoes, I'd try searching online to see if I could find anything.. interesting.
posted by Seboshin at 11:12 AM on July 21, 2016 [6 favorites]

IANYL.

Maybe you are legally entitled to rescind the contract (which would involved giving up your kitten in exchange for getting your money back). Maybe you can use rescission as a stick to get a partial refund back (and get to keep the kitten).

But as far as righting wrongs go -- I feel like the money thing isn't paramount (assuming, of course, that you did get a show quality cat). I think that your priority should be to keep this breeder from doing this again. Which even a full refund might not do.

If I were in your shoes, I'd say screw the refund (as long as, again, you aren't faced with having to pay a different breeder for another cat in order to get one that you can show) and go public. Get her to admit as much as possible in writing, and then go to the association and tell them what happened. Post on the appropriate message boards/listservs. Make a Facebook page. Review her on Yelp. Tell your story (without the emotional parts or the squishy stuff about how long you had to drive or how tired you were): You paid before birth, you selected a kitten, you arrived and were given a different kitten, and when you confronted her she admitted that she did it on purpose and hoped you wouldn't notice.

The "get it in writing" could be insurance against a defamation suit, but if you want to totally protect yourself you'll want to consult a lawyer to make sure you're not doing anything that will get you in legal hot water. Generally though, in the US, if you don't post anything but the facts you're in a good place.

Responsible breeders don't act like this.
posted by sparklemotion at 11:16 AM on July 21, 2016 [2 favorites]

How can a kitten be identified in the womb to the extent that you would know if you got this one or that one? I'm assuming that we're talking about 2 litter mates, yes? Is the kitten you got showable? If yes, I think you should let this go and in the future not deal with businesses that are too far away to conduct business with clear-headed. If he's not showable, bring him back and get a refund. This poor little baby didn't ask for any of this.
posted by bleep at 11:19 AM on July 21, 2016 [5 favorites]

I don't see how you can ask for a full refund plus keep the kitten you did get. That's... not in keeping with any contract law I'm aware of (IAAL, IANYL.)

If you want to cancel the transaction you need to return the kitten - and it would of course be fair for her to also compensate you for all of the transaction costs, including your travel.

Do you think the kitten you got is less satisfactory, but not so much so that you want to return it? It seems to me that you can ask for a partial refund, and she may give it to you, particularly if you accept it in exchange for not telling the Board what happened.

Personally I'd want everyone to know. It was not ok for her to break your contract. But you accepting the new kitten is an acceptance of an alternate contract.
posted by fingersandtoes at 11:22 AM on July 21, 2016

The big hurdle is that I don't really see any evidence of damages. You were willing to purchase this kitten sight unseen. So the fact that you had picked one over the other seems arbitrary. Substituting one kitten with a littermate that has the same qualities as the one you intended to buy isn't counterfeit, even if failing to disclose it is skeevy. As long as the one you received is show quality, chalk it up to bad customer service.

If the paperwork is sufficient to disqualify the cat from being show quality, then you have an argument.
posted by politikitty at 11:47 AM on July 21, 2016 [4 favorites]

Who did she sell the other kitten to? Can you be sure that she's not lying and that the original kitten won't be shown professionally?
posted by nicebookrack at 11:53 AM on July 21, 2016 [2 favorites]

In response to a comment above:

Don't tell her anything like "I will tell everyone about this unless you pay me money," without talking to a knowledgeable lawyer first. Depending on circumstances, location, etc., something like that can be the crime of extortion. (And in my worldview, spending money on a lawyer for a thing like this would be a waste of money. Enjoy your cat and shun this breeder.)
posted by sheldman at 3:49 PM on July 21, 2016

I don't see how you can ask for a full refund and still keep the kitten. If you're displeased enough about it (and I get why you would be) then you clearly don't want the animal. But if you're happy enough to keep it, you don't then get to keep your money as well. You can't have it both ways. It's a little like someone at a restaurant who eats their entire meal then complains that they hated it and doesn't want to pay. Oh, and this breeder is a horrible person. Give the cat back, get a refund.
posted by Jubey at 5:03 PM on July 21, 2016

I suspect I have some more experience with "animal trading" than some of the other folks. It isn't uncommon for an animal transaction to fall apart and end with someone keeping both the animal and the cash - though generally this happens if the breeder sells a sick or genetically misrepresented animal, or perhaps missexed, in non-mammals.

In this case I would say that while you have a very valid point in wanting a refund or partial refund, I suspect you have not handled it well, and have waited way too long. Generally time is of the essence!

I would write the most polite and civil letter ever, explain your position, and explain you're not comfortable continuing with a misrepresentated animal. (The obvious response from the breeder will be: why did you wait all this time?) Should the breeder ignore you or fend you off, if you're involved in breed forums, explain that you'll need to bring this to public attention. This is the nuclear option. Be very clear beforehand what you want out of the deal - refund, new cat, refund and old cat, public apology, etc. Stick to it. Document everything. Accept that you may be getting nothing but what you already have.

And to be honest, it may work differently with cats, but you'd have a difficult time persuading people that you couldn't just send back the kitten for your refund. This is the obvious solution and probably the one that should've happened to begin with, if you weren't going to turn down the alternate animal at the time. (I know you were tired, I'm sympathetic, but you have to budget in inspection time when paying thousands of dollars for an animal.)

For the benefit of other people who will deal with this woman, you SHOULD try to get something back, and maybe bring her to public attention, because people who pull this once will keep doing it. I'm just not optimistic that you'll get your happy ending.
posted by Nyx at 7:45 PM on July 21, 2016

I think the major detail you left out is if the kitten you received was show quality or not. I'm not sure about cats, but I seem to recall for dogs, usually the show quality animals sell for at least three times the non-show quality animals from the same litter. So if you paid for a show quality cat, and didn't get one, you should be entitled to at least the difference.

If the kitten you got is show quality, just not the one you signed up for, I don't think you are entitled to a refund if you keep the kitten. However, this is an extremely shady situation she put you in, and as someone highly regarded in the business, it's outrageous she'd pull this stunt, so you should definitely expose her. I'd try to get the story to as many relevant organizations and social media outlets as possible, and request an explanation, acknowledgment, apology, and possibly, still, a partial refund. She should be called out for what she did and be forced to acknowledge it, in hopes that it will help prevent her from doing it to someone else. But like I said, if you did get a show quality animal, I think it is less about the money than the deception.
posted by catatethebird at 7:59 PM on July 21, 2016

Full refund plus keeping the kitten/puppy is actually pretty normal for serious breeders in the event of a problem. I bought a puppy from a breeder, there was an issue, I am keeping the puppy and was offered a full refund or another puppy. Tell her if you don't get a full refund you will expose her. This is not acceptable behavior for a breeder.
posted by corb at 6:37 AM on July 22, 2016