It was very upsetting for us this week to learn from Melanie at Snowgum Siberians that someone has pinched her website wording and is passing it off as their own!
What is very hard for us to see is that they are using our kitten photos and one of them is of Calix. It is so frustrating and it does upset geniune breeders when this happens. We have been the victim of our photos being pinched so many times now but this really is taking it too far.
Please see Melanie's blog for more details, here is the link Snowgum Siberians Blog
I feel really bad for Melanie as she has put a lot of hardwork into her site and I know from experience how long putting together a site and the words can take so to see it being used to scam people out of money makes me very angry.
Only the other day Andy spoke to a lady who had been offered a kitten to adopt and they had used our kitten photos of Georgina, Akiro's sister.
So if you are looking for a Siberian kitten or any other kitten please check to make sure you are dealing with a genuine breeder.
would be interesting to collate where these leaks are coming from...is it free websites..the blogger?
ReplyDeleteIf there's a common area we could remove any ads/boycott the sites?
Jo - its absolutely awful. I posted up on Facebook about this. I hope that genuine buyers do their homework - and don't get ripped off - but unfortunately - all too often the excitement and thrill of having found - what they think is a great kitten - just overtakes everything. Its very difficult - often people are buying from 'a distance' and may not be able to visit the breeder - so its really important for them to check references/information before parting with their money.
ReplyDeleteMakes it SO difficult - and its really frustrating for breeders who have their photos stolen and used :((
As an victim of one of these scams I have been trying to fight them by spreading the word about these scammers to breeders. If you would like instructions on how to report the scammers that stole Melanie's information I have instructions here: http://cat-scammed.blogspot.com/2011/04/join-me-in-reporting-exquisite.html
ReplyDeleteThese people are horrible and the more information out there about them the harder the scam will be.
~Dante