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I am currently in the market for a Havanese. I ran across the 'breeder' and the website Down South Havanese and Bichon Frise. I've been told to ask the seller to please take a current picture with the puppy I'm interested in buying along with a piece of paper that has my name on it, in order to show that the breeder has the pup in close proximity and to see that the pup advertised currently looks like the puppy pictured on the site. I called Melissa and Melissa acted annoyed at my request and said she doesn't do the whole "paper with the name thing" because scammers can take that picture and use it themselves to falsely advertise her dogs. If I'm interested in a puppy, and she sent me a current pic with my name on a piece of paper beside the dog, how is that any different than the pics she's already posted of the pup on her site? I'd think that having a name on a piece of paper beside the pup would actually DETER someone from reusing the pups pic! She said I was talking to her on the phone and that I can watch the videos on YouTube of the pups and that should suffice.
She sounds southern, and the videos seem like the pups are in a nice home and that they play with her children, etc, however, several of her YouTube videos were also done outside and you can hear lots of dogs barking in the background...LOTS of dogs. I'm thinking she quit doing the videos outside because you can hear all the barking and it doesn't sound like just a small breeding facility... There's a lot of dogs.
After several red flags I decided to Google "havanese breeder in arkansas named melissa". Sure enough, I've seen several complaints about a Melissa Basinger, Melissa Barnes and a Harold Barnes. These 3 are all connected. They were formerly Posh Puppies and/or Posh Puppy Love. She has fb pages for Posh Puppies and Down South Havanese and Bichon Frise. Her Facebook page doesn't allow you to leave reviews (why not?), And the Down South Havanese and Bichon Frise fb page has only been open for a month or 2. Why is that if you've been doing this for so many years? Probably because the business name keeps changing as people make complaints! I saw that a few people have made complaints about bad dealings with Posh Puppies/Posh Puppy Love, so I'm assuming that's one of the reasons she has branched off into a different name which is Down South Havanese and Bichon Frise. Also, despite the fact that her business name is Down South Havanese and Bichon Frise, her email address contains 'posh puppies' in the address, no mention of Down South. I saw a report of a sick puppy that died and she hasn't replaced or refunded the customer... She keeps giving excuses for why she hasn't yet. I've seen a complaint of a puppy being sick upon arrival and after lots of meds, the dog got a little better but eventually ended up having seizures, etc. I've seen a report that one woman said the dog she'd purchased was supposed to be a West Highland Terrior but it didn't look like one, so they did testing on it and it wasn't a pure bred dog and Melissa got angry when the woman questioned her about it. I know that she has claimed to breed Havanese and Bichon Frise for years and years, and maybe that's true, but she's also selling Yorkies, West Highland Terriors amd different mixtures of poodles(poos), in addition to those. It certainly smells of a puppy mill to me! We bought a standard poodle 2 years ago and we were invited to the breeders home to see the dogs parents, and their environment. From my understanding, Melissa won't allow anyone to come to her house, nor does she ever allow you to see the parents of the pups. She doesn't even MENTION the parents of the pups on her listings or her website! Another complaint said to look up her address of her farm on Google maps, I haven't done that yet but I will...I believe she lives at 75 Barnes Dr in Center Ridge, Arkansas.
I genuinely love animals and I'm so thankful I googled her name and the state she's from so I could find complaints on her and avoid sending money to someone who clearly has a sketchy business. There were about 20 red flags too many for my comfort!
***Update***
After looking further into this breeder and complaints coming from Center Ridge, Arkansas where Melissa is from, I found on a website called Bailing Out Benji the mention of a 'breeder' from Center Ridge selling dogs to a pet store in NY. The breeder that was selling to the pet store is David and Sandra Davenport and their business is called Elite Pedigree, and they live at [removed] in [removed]. Guess what?[removed] is right beside Melissa Barnes Basinger's address, which is [removed] You can throw a rock and hit Barnes Dr. from [removed]! This is a VERY rural area, but there's several houses clustered around this general address with huge long buildings which are probably used to store puppies. Elite Pedigree was found with 137 dogs, or either they'd sold 137 puppies to the pet store in NY- please look up Bailing Out Benji to see the exact details. No ethical breeder would sell puppies to a pet store. Dogs from pet stores come from puppy Mills! I don't think it's any coincidence that the Davenport family lives in the same vicinity as Melissa Barnes/Melissa Basinger because i could tell that something wasn't right when she wouldn't supply me with a current pic of the pup, and she got annoyed by my request. Do not give your money to these people. If we stop purchasing from puppy mills, they can't make a living off of these innocent pups.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer's satisfaction.
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I have one of the dogs she used to breed puppies it seems she was mistreated and very worn out from over breeding. I don't care how nice she seems to breed the crap out of a poor dog is down right horrible. When you buy one of these pups you are helping them to stay in business. I found their names in some of the records from my rescue dog. My dog has panic attacks. Not a good person in my books. I hope Arkansas gets laws real soon and I pray for these poor puppies they get shut down.
I guarantee you this she will never ever be mis-treated again. Oh and all but two of her teeth had to be pulled because they were rotten. In fact one had fell out and left a whole had to be stitched.
I looked up this Melissa person I thought my girl had been around horses and I see they have at least one horse. wow I hope my other fears aren't true.
Just a note: I was scammed by some real pros supposedly out of FL. We lost more than the cost of the puppy and have no puppy to show for our trouble and expense. With regard to a puppy being around horses, this does not mean that they were mistreated. My daughter's therapy dog was a Maltese. He was the most courageous dog I have ever seen, and I had G. Shepherds too. He was more dominant than any animal on my cousins farm, even though he had been neutered at a young age. He challenged every animal and they all rolled over, cowered, or ran away from him. OOZO wasn't mean, he just used body language to cower them. It was very educational watching him in action. Anyway, all of the animals had been "conquered" except the horses. Willie, the stud horse met OOZO in the yard. I was watching them out the kitchen window. OOZO would leap toward WILLIE, and WILLIE would back up, and then WILLIE would lower his head, paw the ground and step towards OOZO. OOZO would back up etc. This went on for about 20 minutes. Finally, OOZO gave up! From that time forward, OOZO was one of the herd of horses. They would run through the pasture with this little white fluffball right in the middle of them. He would roll in the hay with them and snuggle them. Amazing animal behavior. Horses and dogs usually get along, but of course there are exceptions. Please don't judge the breeder on the horse issue.
The original complaint above from. ‘jecb’ is very upsetting. After reading it a second time, he or she is casting aspersions on a breeder she has not done business with. There is a lot of ‘coincidences’ and innuendo, but she made a phone call, and didn’t like the answer. Period. I have done business with DownSouth Havanese. I made the 7 hour drive a little over a month ago, paid for and received exactly the puppy I reserved. I met a man at the designated location who did the final transactions and spent quite a bit of time giving me instructions on how to safely get my little one home. All of the customers at the store where we met seemed to know the gentleman and were interested in the puppy. I didn’t get a negative vibe from anyone.
The vet checked her the following Monday, and said she was very healthy and well adjusted. The vet asked if I had been able to see the parents; I told her as I tell you- I didn’t expect to be welcomed into this woman’s home because customers are not invited into mine. It’s simply safety in a crazy world.
I cannot speak to the other claims, because I did not inspect the grounds, and neither did the complainer. I checked the Humane Society’s list of Arkansas puppy mills, and none of her business names are there or in her town. I got the original listing from the AKC marketplace. I am very happy with my beautiful puppy and have recommended Melissa to those who have asked where I got my Havanese. If you want a reasonably priced, gorgeous little Havanese, Melissa has them. It’s beautiful country with windy curvy roads. In my opinion, well worth the trip.
As an addendum, I have played Melissa’s videos for my puppy. She lights up at Melissa’s voice with tail furiously wagging and tries to dig her way into the IPad. To me that’s not a sign of a puppy mistreated or raised in a mill. It’s a sign she was well treated and socialized in a home.
Melissa is a very reputable breeder. I purchased my Shih-Tzu from her 4 years ago and it was an absolute pleasure to work with her. She is very loving and caring and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HER. When I bought my baby, she made sure they she gave him his first set of shots, she kennel and potty trained him. She gave me his paperwork that showed where she took him to the vet for shots, and instructed me on how to care for him for the next 48 hours. She was soo pleasant and loving. She was available if I had additional questions about my new puppy several months after I purchased him. Whoever this woman is that is trying to drag Melissa's name in the dirt, SHAME ON YOU! You must be upset that you didn't get to choose the dog you wanted maybe because someone else purchased the dog before you had a chance to. When I bought my puppy, I put a deposit down and Melissa placed my name under the dog's picture on her website so that no one else could purchase him. Melissa IS THE BEST !
This makes me laugh! All of the complaints I see about Melissa Barnes AKA Bassinger. They live in a huge house thanks to the over 200 dogs they have crammed into 3x3 pins. PUPPY MILL! All the way! Yes they live next door to another puppy mill.
We got a puppy from Melissa and she ripped us off on flying the puppy in a mouse size carrier though promising it would be suitable for her size. We, of course, paid for the larger carrier! Dew claws were still attached tho she said they had been removed. Picture posted was not the puppy we received. Puppy has terrible anxiety. We love this little dog to pieces but I would NOT recommend giving this woman one cent! She is a puppy traitor! Puppy Mill stamped all over her business. Reeks of a bad odor. I hope you read this Melissa, you are an A+ scammer!
The home is huge, the kennel is enormous. Now wouldn't you think a reputable breeder would keep the same website, WHY would you want to change it 4 + times to a different name unless you are trying to hide. Wouldn't a reputable breeder show a video of their kennels, if they ARE NOT a puppy mill. Wouldn't you be proud to show where the puppies are, and also a video of the puppies with their MOM. Nope, never, you have videos of puppies inside somewhere, but they shake and look around, because they haven't been in there before, and are away from mom. Please, show a video, on you tube with a link and let people see the inside of your kennel. Todays technology, there is no reason why you can't do it and up load this right away. Show who you are, and a video is the proof, to put haters to rest, and people who don't believe you that they are wrong. Anxiously waiting for a video... endpuppymills2
This woman lies. She has SEVERAL WEBSITES OF different dogs. She lied to us. We asked if she bred more than one breed and she said no. Scammer. Liar. Plays the Christian southern woman. Sad and we are extremely disappointed we just funded a mill. We are turning this into the people who deal with this. Im so hurt. I was fooled.
I have asked this person to identify him or herself. Whoever it is states that they will not disclose their identity. It is hard for me to even know if this is a real experience. If I was as upset as this person says they are I would have no problem stating who I was. Especially if I was going to take it so far as to turn me in. I do not know of any organization that deals with confused people that refuse to identify themselves but yet want to make serious accusations. I would imagine that it would be hard to take that very seriously. I do have different websites that I use to showcase the breeds I breed. I have all of them on Facebook under my name and I publicly advertise all of them on several websites. Each one of my websites is used to showcase a particular breed. I am not trying to hide that fact. If anything it is the opposite. Since I have no idea who this person is I have no way of dealing with this misunderstanding. If this person did purchase a puppy from me I can see how they may have assumed I only breed one breed because that particular website he or she was on may have had only one breed showcased. I am an AKC inspected breeder. I have been in compliance with AKC for nearly 20 years. Here are a list of my sites for anyone interested in an adorable puppy. www.downsouthhb.com I show case my havanese and bichon frise pups on that site. I chose to put them on the same website because they are a breed that is closely related and share the same traits. That is why I also chose to offer this breed.. I fell in love with the havanese first but had some many families wanting an all white dog so that lead me to the bichon frise. What a sweet little dog. I also own www.southerncharmcotons.com I show case my coton de tulears on this website. I am able to offer more detailed information about each breed when they are showcased. The coton is a clown of a dog. I love there sweet affectionate nature. I do offer some poo breeds as well. The poo breeds are very popular. They are low to minimal shedding and fit the lifestyle of a lot families. You can find my poo breeds at www.cutiepoopups.com . Also you can find me on Facebook.
J
Scammers beware. I have turned over a puppy scammer in FL to authorities. I believe the breeder was involved, but I KNOW the alleged "shippers" were the biggest crooks. We were bilked out of $0000's of dollars because instead of sending the pup to us with a Nanny, she sent it as freight. Then there were shipping delays (due to weather) and then they needed money for crate rental (supposedly refundable- NOT), and then shipping insurance implied necessary by federal law (I have the email and text messages), and all the while the shipper was concerned about the health and well-being of the puppy. The whole shipping nightmare took 10 days. I paid their demands (ransom) because I was worried about the health of the puppy, whom the shippers said they would not care for. I was crazy with worry for this little pup.
However, I knew I'd been "had" when the shipper called and told us that the puppy would be delivered to our home (not what we arranged with breeder). We told shipper we wanted to pick up at airport and they said it was too late. They were going to deliver it to our home late this afternoon. At 5:30 they called and said that the pup was in our town, but that we had to pay an additional $1200.00 for delivery, because their was a Pet Control Agency fee for delivery. When I pressed them about the fee, they intimated it was a state fee necessary to bring a dog into the state of AR. I knew this was a lie. I played along with the shipper and told them that I would send the money but I wanted to see the puppy first. The shipper then said that the puppy was at the Pet Control Agency 40 miles from my home. He said if I didn't pick up the pup that night that I would be charged $120.00 a day for its care. I told him I was going to pick up the pup - give me the address. I googled the address and it was an empty lot. He then sent me a pic of the Pet
Control Agency, it was a residential house, not a government building, AND it didn't identify the location of the house! It could have been anywhere. When I looked up the area code for the shipper, it wasn't in Chicago, it was in LA. I was fighting mad. I called the FL State Attorney's Office, the AR State Attorney's office, and the Federal Trade Commission. Because the scam crossed state lines, it is a federal offense. If I can, I am going to take these people down. I want them to be an example to other scammers. The name of the breeder is: HAVANESE BREEDERS HOME. Their address is in Haines City, Polk County, FL. The shipper had several names. Pet Control Agency was one of them.
If any of you have been scammed by a breeder/shipper anywhere in the country, please email me at cjevans2011@hotmail.com. I will forward the messages together to the appropriate government bodies. We can stop this and help reputable breeders do their business and help puppy buyers safely purchase dogs on the internet.
Thanks.