Complaint Review: Brighten Farms Ratkateersrodentry Melonie Buchanan)

This is exactly my experience with this person/business. I have my own ripoff report on Melonie Buchanan/Brighten Farms and the really awful squirrel experience she's put my family through. I just wanted to validate this author's experience.
It's so frustrating to fight for your money back or the animal you want via the internet and a business owner who does not communicate or respect her customers.

I paid for my skunk in October of 2007, which I was not supposed to recieve until March or April of 08. Melonie kept intouch with me throughout the year fairly well until the end, the last email I recieved she told me that they were born but still had not hair. That was in May 08. I have been calling, writting, emailing and trying to look at her website; which is down. I cannot get intouch with her and I want to know what is going on, I have spoke with the Better Business Bureau in IN. I would rather have the skunk I have been waiting on all year, if not I want all of my money back! I would love to help yall or posibly join with the fight against her!

Dear Alan,

I really don't like the ways things were left Thursday. Unfortunately I am not the worlds greatest customer service manager. However, contrary to some blogs on the Internet, I do care about what happens to my animals and my customers. So, if you send or return the squirrel to me I will replace her. I only have males at this time. You can have one of them or wait until we have new litters which will be around June or so. Remember, I do not manufacture squirrels. Mother nature takes care of that so be patient waiting on new litters. Let me know. Melonie


Brighten Farms
1962 N 400 E
Rockville IN 47872
Ph: 765-569-3512, Fx: 765-569-5546
http://www.brightenfarms.com

I hardly think that is doing nothng about it. I contacted everyone else who purchased animals from that litter and they told me there were no bugs or problems. If they can't even send me a body it makes me wonder if there was ever a problem?? BTW, she looked over the squirrel before she left and I showed her the injury on the ear which mom did while overly grooming her. I have litter throughout the year. I've always tried to settle things with my customers. People that don't want to go by the rules that I clearly set-forth on the World Wide Web am the ones I have trouble with. I also offered a replacement for Pam's squirrels which she never showed up to get. It's funny how people like to lie because they don't get their own way and blow things way out of proportion. My colony is outside of 30 or so squirrels. I told Alan, that is was quite possible that they may have had mites or fleas and to get a vet to either give me a call or other verification that there were problems. He couldn't do that. I also offered to replace the squirrel if he would return it to me. He couldn't do that. ALL breeders' weather it is for birds, dogs, rabbits or squirrels have health guarantee as do I. However, in order to enforce these policies you have to do a few simple steps to ensure everyone involved is treated fairly. We guarantee that every animal is healthy when it leaves here. If you take your animal to the vet within 3 days after you pick up the pet, and the vet finds an unforeseen congenital abnormality, we will either refund your money or allow you to pick out a different pet, as available. Our exotics have not been exposed to infectious diseases here. If your animal is exposed to an infectious disease after it leaves here, this is not covered under the health guarantee. Please pay particular attention to this if you have recently lost an animal! Infectious diseases are not covered by our health guarantee, as we have no control over what the animal is exposed to after it leaves our home. We also cannot guarantee that your animal will never develop any health problems, just like a pediatrician cannot guarantee that a child will never develop any health problems in the future. Some things are just not able to be predicted. Our parents are free of diseases, disorders, and health problems or we would not breed them. That means the animals are less likely to develop problems. However, it doesn't guarantee they will never develop a problem. On each of my pages, on my website, there is a link to our terms page. On this page, it clearly states what you must do if you think there is a problem. Because most of my customers are a distance away I require that I have proof of even the smallest thing; they are dead and yes I have had people tell me that their pet died when in fact it did not. I can tell you 100's of stories like when a woman purchased a squirrel and placed it in a "bra pouch". She was a heavy woman and smothered the squirrel to death before she got home. She blamed me for giving her a sick squirrel. I had her return it to me where "my" vet did a necropsy and found that it had died from asphyxia. Which means she smothered him to death? I am now all over the internet for giving her a sick squirrel. I believe I've seen her here. Another woman purchased a pet skunk from me. She told me it died within 3 days of getting it home and that it had all kinds of problems. After a lengthy dispute and investigation; she confessed to me that she had placed the skunk in a cage and it had fallen from the top floor and died. These kinds of stories make it difficult for me to believe anyone anymore. I can go on and on. I also broker squirrels for other breeders including ones in Ohio, Texas, and Minnesota. So sometimes there may be a problem that I had not been aware of. I try my best to purchase animals from reputable breeders and for the most part, I believe they are. However, problems do arise. That is why I have policies in place. I sell 100's of squirrels a year. Every year I'll have one or two problems. That's part of the business. And yes, it is a business. Whether we like it or not animals must be fed, stalls need cleaned, vets need paid. This all takes money. Money from the sales of the livestock we have here. Unlike goats, pigs and other domestic livestock; squirrels and other exotics can be tricky. Wildlife in captivity is not as easy as you may think. If I had a pair of squirrels in my house that had a little or two every year that would be an easy trade. But with colonies of 30 or more it is not. As far as my license I've never had it revoked. One year, I didn't get my payment in on time and I had to redo my license. I've NEVER had a problem or have been written up. Anyone can write to the USDA and give them my license # and get a report on my inspections. They are perfect. Anyway I could type forever...Adam; all you had to do is send the squirrel back...Mel

To the commenters, no one asked you, so butt out. The case is closed.

I purchased an animal from Melonie and have been in her home on two different occasions. It is NOT a dump and was very clean on both visits. Also I was given a tour of the animal cage areas and they were also clean and well maintained. Some cages were not toured due to animals having litters in them. The mother could easily be upset and harm the babies. She is not breeding kittens! And I did tour the squirrel cage. It was clean as all were.

I am an 10 year experienced wildlife rehabilitator. I have raised baby squirrels along with several other species. I can tell you a squirrel is so hyper that one day I wet a paper towel to wipe one's eye after a formula feeding. The poor baby had a heart attack and died instantly when I simply touched the damp towel to it. They are very difficult to raise even for a trained wildlife handler. And aspiration is always a very great risk with any animal.

Melonie offered you another squirrel. That was fair. But you criticizing her home like that was not!

Was this the common type of squirrel that we all have in our backyards? I have gone squirrel hunting many times and eaten all the squirrels that I have shot. They are actually very tasty.

Anyhow, besides the ridiculous idea of paying $300 for a squirrel, if the place was dirty and the squirrel was sneezing, and the seller told you that you would have to furnish an autopsy report for a refund if the animal died - that should have given you a few clues that all was not right with this deal.

I once bought a Persian kitten for the purpose of breeding cats. The seller agreed to let me have the kitten examined by a vet and to refund my money if the kitten was not going to be a good breeder cat. It turned out the kitten had a heart murmur which would make it useless as a show cat breeder. I took the vet report to the seller and got my money back with no problem.

In buying any kind of animal, you should have a written contract that stipulates you can return it for a full refund if a qualified vet finds a problem with it within a couple of days of the sale.

You were lucky to get another squirrel. They are cute animals. I no longer shoot any animal and I actually go to Costco and buy large bags of peanuts to feed squirrels on my back railing. However, I would never pay money for a squirrel as a pet. They are wild animals and should be left in the wild.

After months of unreturned calls and contacting a lawyer, we finally got another squirrel. She had moved since the last time, and I must say, it was in much better condition than the last. I think she might still be keeping the animals at the old place, because all we saw there were dogs, and our squirrel she brought out. Again, we did not see where he was kept. He was suppose to be "human handled" but he obviously was not. We've had him for a few months, and im just now to the point where i can pet him and play a little. He still won't let me pick him up without scratching the heck out of me. Anyway, he seems healthy, and that's all that really matters. I know he'll have a better home here and someday get over whatever they did to him.