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Introduce Ourselves: |
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Introduce Ourselves: |
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| We
are Ken and Pat Longley (above left) and we live in a small city in
Idaho
called Coeur d'Alene (pronounced core dah lane). As you can see
we
are pretty down to earth folks from modest surroundings. Most of
the web page writing and designing is done by me (Pat) with a little
critique
from Ken.
Ken and I have lived in Idaho since November 1, 1996, and in addition to our little house (above right), we own a 4-plex apartment building four blocks away. Our other activities and interests include writing, square dancing, various hand crafts, photography (Pat), and real estate investing. Ken is retired, if you can call it that. It means he doesn't punch anyone else's time clock. But, he is always busy with repairs, remodeling, upkeep on our properties, bookkeeping, and managing our rental units. I'm currently working as a cashier at Lowes but looking forward to retiring in November 2005. We got started raising Bengals in April 1996 when we bought Pixie from Louisiana (above with Ken and I). She was the first mink Bengal in the Northwest. Two weeks after her arrival, we showed her in a UFO show. To our surprise, she took Best of the Best Kitten in Show, of course we were honored, but we were also "hooked"! I began as a judging trainee and a Specialty Judge for UFO (United Feline Organization) in October of 1998 and graduated to Allbreed Judge in 2000 (above center).
Our goal is to breed for steady improvement of this magnificent breed
of
domestic cats and more specifically to improve the "snows" especially
the
mink and sepias. We are aiming for more contrasted markings,
wilder
faces and body types, rosettes, whited tummies,
thicker tails carried low, large nocturnal eyes, and white spots behind
smaller rounded ears. Of course, through all of this, we are
breeding
for wonderful pet dispositions in every cat.
In 1999 we embarked on an additional breed. We were enchanted by
the plight of the Sokokes
and felt a need
to help. We are aiding in the survival of this breed by raising
them,
looking for new American breeders & pet owners, looking for ways to
let people know about them, in the DNA research, and in finding a way
to
take advantage of the contacts I've made in Kenya by a trip there in
person. Thank you for reading and visiting our web site. If you have any questions as a breeder, pet owner, or just someone who is curious, I'm always glad to talk about these breeds in any capacity. Pat
Longley
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