It all started in October 2016. I had been informed by the daughter of someone who had 2 male kittens from me, that said kittens both had developed a disease called FIP, and were to be put to sleep. I immediately attempted to contact the owner, who refused to answer any of my phone calls, emails or texts. It seemed I could only speak to the daughter, and this was only through Facebook messenger. I pleaded with them not to put the boys to sleep until my own vet had seen them. They did not live far from me, and I was happy to collect them. I had offered their money back, I had offered them alternative kittens, I was frantic and did not know what else to do. Things then went very quiet. Until the daughter posted a damning letter from her mother about me on two Facebook pages. The first page was run by an administrator who had knowledge of this disease, and removed the post without delay. However the other Facebook group, so called "Bad Cat Breeders" were doing no such thing.
They published the whole letter in full.
I was devastated. I had not even been told, but it seemed that both of my kittens had been put to sleep, in their own vet's words "in case they went on to develop FIP"! In case??
My lovely cattery assistant Emily wrote to the administrator of the group, and very politely asked them to remove the letter. It was clearly inflammatory, and there were massively contradictory and inaccurate statements in it. However the admin refused to remove it, and invited me to prove otherwise! Myself and several people I knew, and even the admin of the other group wrote to the BCB group, and were all met with hostility. All posters, including myself, had their (VERY POLITE) attempts to defend me, deleted and I was actually removed from the group. I reiterate at no point was I rude in any way, nor did I "make demands", in fact the same can be said of all posters. Only one person wrote something vitriolic to them, a fellow breeder who was incensed at the treatment I had received. I was accused of trying to blame the owner, when nothing could be further from the truth. Personal emails were sent to the administrator by private messenger, not for the group, and these were publicly posted on to their website, not their facebook page. In fact I had the dubious honour of having a whole page dedicated to me, as the archetypal bad breeder.
What has struck me about all of this was the utter refusal of the administrator to listen to reason or even to give me the right to reply.
After a little detective work by a friend, it was discovered that the administrator of the Bad Cat Breeders website and Facebook page is herself a breeder. With a very bad reputation. Her name is Konnie Surmann, a German woman, living in Washington State, USA. I am not the only person to have been put through the mill by her. There are many others.
And the detective work is something we have in common with her. She hires out her services as a cat breeder private detective to all intents and purposes. Take a close look at the Bad Cat Breeder website and you will see them plying for trade.
I notice in her rebuttal of the report by the previous poster, Sadpup13, that Ms Surmann mentions states that she is employed by "a private entity by the name of Michelle". The full name is Michelle Halversson. I know because I received abusive emails and Facebook messages from both "Michelle" and Konnie Surmann. I became suspicious and reported "Michelle Halversson's" Facebook account, stating that I suspected it to be a false account and actually belonged to Konnie Surmann. Facebook upheld the report and removed the account. I believe the two to be the same person, Konnie Surmann.
I now have a 2nd page devoted to me on BCB site, and they actually state that I defrauded my kitten buyer out of thousands! (badcatbreeders . com / calling-out-a-bad-breeder-deflection-as-a-means-of-justification). Totally untrue, the kittens were insured by me before leaving. Sadly I am in the UK, and they know it, which makes it incredibly difficult for me to sue her, although I would love to.
The Bad Cat Breeders website, and its corresponding Facebook page, lie and bully. As God is my witness, I did none of the awful things I have been accused of. The stress last year made me ill for several months, and I ended up hospitalised as a result. I am sure Konnie Surmann has anger and control issues.
I have posted full details of the whole incident on my website, at ayshazencats . com / konniesurmann with further details here cheruk . wixsite . com / catfancy bullies / single-post/2017/02/15/Bad-Cat-Breeder-Who-Says. There are screenshots on each page.
My sympathies with Sadpup13, and with the other people that Konnie Surman and her website and group have defamed and demonised.
There are many bad breeders out there, I agree, but Ms Surmann et al (if there are any others), are indiscriminately bullying and trying to destroy caring breeders' reputations too, even in the face of evidence that vindicates them.
There is a site on Facebook called Bad Cat Breeders and I stumbled upon it. I found a very biased article about Savannah breeders and the process of breeding them! I found it extremely offensive, and brought this to the author's attention. She is a pixie bob cat breeder and really hypocritical to be judgemental about how other breeders choose to breed their animals! She also used animal right groups sites, which are known to use deception in describing the breeding process. I am not a breeder and a Savannah owner. I have been involved in Savannah pages since a year before owning a Savannah. I wanted to understand everything about these cats, and make sure I could provide for them with with a good home. Needless to say the lies ticked me off. I pointed out to her what was wrong, and she did not care. I believe once she realized how much early generation breeders charge for their kittens she was jealous. Thus, she wrote a disparaging article about these breeders, lies about breeding them, and making all of them sound mercenary. This is why another breeder should not ever run a site like this, because she cannot be objective. Thus, I have a hard time believing any of the complaints on her page. There is good and bad breeders, in any breed. She betrayed her fellow breeders by passing along the an rights lies about the breeding of this for her own selfish means. These cats are popular, and she found a way to make breeding them sound like animal abuse. She should be ashamed.
the author is biased and is abusing her position as an advocate :(
You nailed it. She loves to disparage hybrid cats because she breeds domestic pixie-bobs and one of her big selling points is that hybrids and exotics are terrible (of course they are competition for her so in my opinion that is a conflict of interest right off the bat!). Of course she didn't share her bias so no one would ever know that her opinion is not based on facts, but rather an agenda. She also disparages breeders in her OWN breeding community and pretty much anyone who she doesnt personally like. Her name is Konnie Surmann. Her cattery is Forest Hunter Pixie Bobs.
Appears that Bad Cat Breeders does their job. Loads of pissed off cat folks on here with dirt in their front yards and chips on their shoulders. Pathetic!
What the hell is this? Couple of breeders in a cat fight? Y'all shouldn't be breeding anyway. Adopt, don't shop.
Bad Cat Breeders helped me getting reimbursed when the kitten I bought passed way after only two weeks. Of course the breeder denied any wrong doing and blocked my email and phone number and facebook too.
I asked them for help and they spoke to the breeder and I got all my money back minus the deposit.
Sounds like the folks complaining on here are dirty. Very wordy responses are typical when someone is not right.
Unfortunately I too have been a victim of Konnie Surrman and her online bullying and harassment. She decided with little to no information about 6 months ago that I was breeding cats out of registry (I was a brand new/novice breeder who reached out to her to purchase breeding cats but after listening to her gossip and disparage other breeders in messages and phone calls I decided I wanted nothing to do with her) - this apparently has triggered her to become obsessed with me and my cattery. My cattery is TICA registered and ALL my cats are tica registered but despite being told this she continues to write snarky articles about me under her Forest Hunter Pixie bob blog (never uses my name but then forwards the articles to the pixiebob breeding community where she DOES use my name and calls me a back yard breeder and that my cats are frankencats and mutts - a term that funny enough is used by the "bad cat breeder" website when describing unethical breeders (proving once and for all that Konnie DOES write content for bad cat breeders). She is using her position there to bully and abuse breeders that she doesn't like for PERSONAL reasons without ANY PROOF which I find unprofessional, unethical and just plan mean. I also unfortunately was the victim of actual scammers who stole thousands of dollars from me and before I realized that Konnie was the administrator/writer of the website I shared my story so that others could be warned. Instead of being given support she basically said it was all my fault and then wrote a snarky article (which again is in the style and language of her Forest Hunter pixie bob blogs) in which she said it was "karma" that this happened to me. WTH? It was then that friends began messaging me and saying Konnie Surmann ran the site (ahhhh it all made sense). She said things like I was "willing to risk confiscation" of my cat and that I didnt have the necessary permits -- these are flat out FALSE statements that she put in her article but without context one would believe her given the platform she has. She has ZERO information about my permits - NONE. But it didnt stop her from just making something up. I can only imagine what else she has made up over the years which puts the entire site into question (With the exception of posts from actual victims who I am sure are legitimate and do not know we are being used to further a vindictive womans agenda). If you google Konnie Surmann and complaints you will see that she complains to companies about poor service, and constantly disparages people (I have screenshots of conversations and posts she has made) so this is a trend with her. So just stay away from Bad Cat Breeders and Konnie Surrmann!
Bad Cat Breeders Reviews
It all started in October 2016. I had been informed by the daughter of someone who had 2 male kittens from me, that said kittens both had developed a disease called FIP, and were to be put to sleep. I immediately attempted to contact the owner, who refused to answer any of my phone calls, emails or texts. It seemed I could only speak to the daughter, and this was only through Facebook messenger. I pleaded with them not to put the boys to sleep until my own vet had seen them. They did not live far from me, and I was happy to collect them. I had offered their money back, I had offered them alternative kittens, I was frantic and did not know what else to do. Things then went very quiet. Until the daughter posted a damning letter from her mother about me on two Facebook pages. The first page was run by an administrator who had knowledge of this disease, and removed the post without delay. However the other Facebook group, so called "Bad Cat Breeders" were doing no such thing.
They published the whole letter in full.
I was devastated. I had not even been told, but it seemed that both of my kittens had been put to sleep, in their own vet's words "in case they went on to develop FIP"! In case??
My lovely cattery assistant Emily wrote to the administrator of the group, and very politely asked them to remove the letter. It was clearly inflammatory, and there were massively contradictory and inaccurate statements in it. However the admin refused to remove it, and invited me to prove otherwise! Myself and several people I knew, and even the admin of the other group wrote to the BCB group, and were all met with hostility. All posters, including myself, had their (VERY POLITE) attempts to defend me, deleted and I was actually removed from the group. I reiterate at no point was I rude in any way, nor did I "make demands", in fact the same can be said of all posters. Only one person wrote something vitriolic to them, a fellow breeder who was incensed at the treatment I had received. I was accused of trying to blame the owner, when nothing could be further from the truth. Personal emails were sent to the administrator by private messenger, not for the group, and these were publicly posted on to their website, not their facebook page. In fact I had the dubious honour of having a whole page dedicated to me, as the archetypal bad breeder.
What has struck me about all of this was the utter refusal of the administrator to listen to reason or even to give me the right to reply.
After a little detective work by a friend, it was discovered that the administrator of the Bad Cat Breeders website and Facebook page is herself a breeder. With a very bad reputation. Her name is Konnie Surmann, a German woman, living in Washington State, USA. I am not the only person to have been put through the mill by her. There are many others.
And the detective work is something we have in common with her. She hires out her services as a cat breeder private detective to all intents and purposes. Take a close look at the Bad Cat Breeder website and you will see them plying for trade.
I notice in her rebuttal of the report by the previous poster, Sadpup13, that Ms Surmann mentions states that she is employed by "a private entity by the name of Michelle". The full name is Michelle Halversson. I know because I received abusive emails and Facebook messages from both "Michelle" and Konnie Surmann. I became suspicious and reported "Michelle Halversson's" Facebook account, stating that I suspected it to be a false account and actually belonged to Konnie Surmann. Facebook upheld the report and removed the account. I believe the two to be the same person, Konnie Surmann.
I now have a 2nd page devoted to me on BCB site, and they actually state that I defrauded my kitten buyer out of thousands! (badcatbreeders . com / calling-out-a-bad-breeder-deflection-as-a-means-of-justification). Totally untrue, the kittens were insured by me before leaving. Sadly I am in the UK, and they know it, which makes it incredibly difficult for me to sue her, although I would love to.
The Bad Cat Breeders website, and its corresponding Facebook page, lie and bully. As God is my witness, I did none of the awful things I have been accused of. The stress last year made me ill for several months, and I ended up hospitalised as a result. I am sure Konnie Surmann has anger and control issues.
I have posted full details of the whole incident on my website, at ayshazencats . com / konniesurmann with further details here cheruk . wixsite . com / catfancy bullies / single-post/2017/02/15/Bad-Cat-Breeder-Who-Says. There are screenshots on each page.
My sympathies with Sadpup13, and with the other people that Konnie Surman and her website and group have defamed and demonised.
There are many bad breeders out there, I agree, but Ms Surmann et al (if there are any others), are indiscriminately bullying and trying to destroy caring breeders' reputations too, even in the face of evidence that vindicates them.
There is a site on Facebook called Bad Cat Breeders and I stumbled upon it. I found a very biased article about Savannah breeders and the process of breeding them! I found it extremely offensive, and brought this to the author's attention. She is a pixie bob cat breeder and really hypocritical to be judgemental about how other breeders choose to breed their animals! She also used animal right groups sites, which are known to use deception in describing the breeding process. I am not a breeder and a Savannah owner. I have been involved in Savannah pages since a year before owning a Savannah. I wanted to understand everything about these cats, and make sure I could provide for them with with a good home. Needless to say the lies ticked me off. I pointed out to her what was wrong, and she did not care. I believe once she realized how much early generation breeders charge for their kittens she was jealous. Thus, she wrote a disparaging article about these breeders, lies about breeding them, and making all of them sound mercenary. This is why another breeder should not ever run a site like this, because she cannot be objective. Thus, I have a hard time believing any of the complaints on her page. There is good and bad breeders, in any breed. She betrayed her fellow breeders by passing along the an rights lies about the breeding of this for her own selfish means. These cats are popular, and she found a way to make breeding them sound like animal abuse. She should be ashamed.
the author is biased and is abusing her position as an advocate :(
You nailed it. She loves to disparage hybrid cats because she breeds domestic pixie-bobs and one of her big selling points is that hybrids and exotics are terrible (of course they are competition for her so in my opinion that is a conflict of interest right off the bat!). Of course she didn't share her bias so no one would ever know that her opinion is not based on facts, but rather an agenda. She also disparages breeders in her OWN breeding community and pretty much anyone who she doesnt personally like. Her name is Konnie Surmann. Her cattery is Forest Hunter Pixie Bobs.
Cat Fight
Appears that Bad Cat Breeders does their job. Loads of pissed off cat folks on here with dirt in their front yards and chips on their shoulders. Pathetic!
Saved me from a disaster
What the hell is this? Couple of breeders in a cat fight? Y'all shouldn't be breeding anyway. Adopt, don't shop.
Bad Cat Breeders helped me getting reimbursed when the kitten I bought passed way after only two weeks. Of course the breeder denied any wrong doing and blocked my email and phone number and facebook too.
I asked them for help and they spoke to the breeder and I got all my money back minus the deposit.
Sounds like the folks complaining on here are dirty. Very wordy responses are typical when someone is not right.
Konnie Surrmann harasses and bullies
Unfortunately I too have been a victim of Konnie Surrman and her online bullying and harassment. She decided with little to no information about 6 months ago that I was breeding cats out of registry (I was a brand new/novice breeder who reached out to her to purchase breeding cats but after listening to her gossip and disparage other breeders in messages and phone calls I decided I wanted nothing to do with her) - this apparently has triggered her to become obsessed with me and my cattery. My cattery is TICA registered and ALL my cats are tica registered but despite being told this she continues to write snarky articles about me under her Forest Hunter Pixie bob blog (never uses my name but then forwards the articles to the pixiebob breeding community where she DOES use my name and calls me a back yard breeder and that my cats are frankencats and mutts - a term that funny enough is used by the "bad cat breeder" website when describing unethical breeders (proving once and for all that Konnie DOES write content for bad cat breeders). She is using her position there to bully and abuse breeders that she doesn't like for PERSONAL reasons without ANY PROOF which I find unprofessional, unethical and just plan mean. I also unfortunately was the victim of actual scammers who stole thousands of dollars from me and before I realized that Konnie was the administrator/writer of the website I shared my story so that others could be warned. Instead of being given support she basically said it was all my fault and then wrote a snarky article (which again is in the style and language of her Forest Hunter pixie bob blogs) in which she said it was "karma" that this happened to me. WTH? It was then that friends began messaging me and saying Konnie Surmann ran the site (ahhhh it all made sense). She said things like I was "willing to risk confiscation" of my cat and that I didnt have the necessary permits -- these are flat out FALSE statements that she put in her article but without context one would believe her given the platform she has. She has ZERO information about my permits - NONE. But it didnt stop her from just making something up. I can only imagine what else she has made up over the years which puts the entire site into question (With the exception of posts from actual victims who I am sure are legitimate and do not know we are being used to further a vindictive womans agenda). If you google Konnie Surmann and complaints you will see that she complains to companies about poor service, and constantly disparages people (I have screenshots of conversations and posts she has made) so this is a trend with her. So just stay away from Bad Cat Breeders and Konnie Surrmann!