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Recently, out of curiousity, I walked into a local Petland pet store. Much
to my shock and absolute horror, they had what they were selling as
"purebred snow Bengal kittens." I asked the salesperson to pull them out of
the cage to take a closer look at them (one spotted and one marble, both
females) and also asked to take a look at the pedigree on them. The
salesperson pulled out the kittens and both could barely stand because they
had been in a cage for so long. After a delay, the salesperson came back
with a packet of information on Bengals, most of which was wrong, and the
paperwork on the kittens. She said she couldn't locate the pedigrees on the
kittens, but assured me that they were purebred and came from top show
quality lines. To give you a brief description of the kittens, they were
grey, patterns barely visible, and my guess would be they might be half
Bengal. They were very unsocial - scratched and bit me every time I picked
them up. They were unresponsive to petting. Although, what can you expect
from an animal that is not accustomed to human touch. The paperwork on them
said they were just barely 7 weeks old. I asked the salesperson how much
they were asking for the kittens and my jaw almost hit the ground when she
said $900 each.
Reputable breeders would never even think of doing something as despicable as selling their prized kittens - especially "show quality" kittens - to a pet shop where the kittens would be confined probably 23 hours per day. Our contract specifically states that our kittens can never be sold or given away to a pet shop or shelter. This was probably a backyard breeder with 1 Bengal breeding it to something else, trying to make money with the breed name. I can assure you that all Bengals are not like the ones found at this pet shop. The only way to stop this kind of breeding, which is really only damaging the breed that we and so many others are working so hard to preserve and refine, is to not support it. For what you would pay for a kitten at that pet store, you could get a true example of the Bengal breed, which we guarantee to be healthy and has come from strong show lines. Our cattery is open by appointment and you are welcome to come in and handle all of our cats and kittens (age allowing), and see what a TRUE Bengal is. Yes, we may have a waiting list and you might not be able to take the kitten home with you that day, but I guarantee it will be well worth the wait. |
