I am a cat breeder and reside in the state of Indiana. I have run into a situation that leaves me baffled and I need some advice fast! Here is the scenario:
A young couple came to visit my home last Saturday. They were interested in purchasing two of my adult females. They chose the girls that they wanted ($350 for both); there was nothing written, no deposit or anything. The problem is that one of the girls that I offered them has never been bred, and I really had not intended to breed her because I just wasn't satisfied with her type. Anyway, I emailed the breeder that I had acquired this girl from and told her that I was going to spay the girl and place her as a pet. She requested that I allow this girl to have one litter of kittens before spaying and placing her as a pet. I then emailed the folks that I had agreed to place her with, and told them of the situation and told them that I felt my first obligation was to my breeder friend. I offered them three different options, because I felt badly and wanted to make things right.
1) Take the first cat and wait until after the second cat had a litter of kittens, after weaning, I would spay her and she would then be placed with them.
2) Pick another of my altered girls to be a companion to the other cat.
3) Pay an additional $100 for a show quality female kitten (as a pet) to go with the first adult.
The husband, I felt was going to be understanding, but his wife, on the other hand sent me an email, and basically demanded that I sell them the cats as we verbally agreed and said that they were not "satisfied" with any of the alternatives that I offered. This made me angry, as I don't feel the need to place my cats with anyone who would behave this way. I feel the need to protect my cats. I wrote them last night and told them "NO DEAL", and that I would not be selling them any of my cats. This morning I get an email from the husband saying that I will either sell them the cats that they want or he'll file a claim in small claims court against me. He also threatened to file claims with TICA and CFA (cat registries), and put a page on his personal website documenting this whole fiasco, basically trying to keep me from selling cats to anyone else. I did not respond to this email.
Later today, I received another email stating that they had contacted an attorney and according to them I could not be forced to sell the cats that we agreed upon, however if/when they did purchase cats from someone else, that I could be held liable for paying them the difference in price from our "verbal" agreement amount, and the actual amount that he paid for the new cats. He also says that I could be held liable for other damages as well.
Please tell me what my options are, do I have a leg to stand on, or will the judge simply laugh us out of the courtroom? Thanks!
A young couple came to visit my home last Saturday. They were interested in purchasing two of my adult females. They chose the girls that they wanted ($350 for both); there was nothing written, no deposit or anything. The problem is that one of the girls that I offered them has never been bred, and I really had not intended to breed her because I just wasn't satisfied with her type. Anyway, I emailed the breeder that I had acquired this girl from and told her that I was going to spay the girl and place her as a pet. She requested that I allow this girl to have one litter of kittens before spaying and placing her as a pet. I then emailed the folks that I had agreed to place her with, and told them of the situation and told them that I felt my first obligation was to my breeder friend. I offered them three different options, because I felt badly and wanted to make things right.
1) Take the first cat and wait until after the second cat had a litter of kittens, after weaning, I would spay her and she would then be placed with them.
2) Pick another of my altered girls to be a companion to the other cat.
3) Pay an additional $100 for a show quality female kitten (as a pet) to go with the first adult.
The husband, I felt was going to be understanding, but his wife, on the other hand sent me an email, and basically demanded that I sell them the cats as we verbally agreed and said that they were not "satisfied" with any of the alternatives that I offered. This made me angry, as I don't feel the need to place my cats with anyone who would behave this way. I feel the need to protect my cats. I wrote them last night and told them "NO DEAL", and that I would not be selling them any of my cats. This morning I get an email from the husband saying that I will either sell them the cats that they want or he'll file a claim in small claims court against me. He also threatened to file claims with TICA and CFA (cat registries), and put a page on his personal website documenting this whole fiasco, basically trying to keep me from selling cats to anyone else. I did not respond to this email.
Later today, I received another email stating that they had contacted an attorney and according to them I could not be forced to sell the cats that we agreed upon, however if/when they did purchase cats from someone else, that I could be held liable for paying them the difference in price from our "verbal" agreement amount, and the actual amount that he paid for the new cats. He also says that I could be held liable for other damages as well.
Please tell me what my options are, do I have a leg to stand on, or will the judge simply laugh us out of the courtroom? Thanks!
