What a wacky whirlwind weekend on the world wide web…
Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and WWWWWWW lovers…..Well, the drama unfolded on Thursday night. I was sniffing around and bamm! I found something called bassethoundtown.org. What? My heart sunk. Someone in cyberspace is using my name? So, I spent most of the weekend researching this person and low and behold they will not answer multiple pleas to contact me.
Just so the residents know, I have all of the information on the internet about the .org and have been trying to get answers. No one will call me back, including Carolina Basset Hound Rescue.
I just cannot believe that someone would buy my name and start another basset hound business. Out of all of the names anyone could pick why would you want mine? Why would you want to start out you business (with further plans to form a 501(c)3) on the wrong paw? Frankly, it is unethical.
I started bassethoundtown.com 10 years ago and have had my LLC about that long. I am established.
I have done lots of research so I know most, if not all of what is on the net now about this .org. I just don’t want anyone to go to any trouble trying to research this and waste your time. I will be reporting more on the issue as things come up but for now…I am just so sad that someone would do this. Why would they want to pick my name? For reasons known only to himself it only leads to speculation and educated conclusions on my part.
So, in a nut shell here is the scoop. The .org is a dream of someone who wants to start a clinic just for bassets hounds. He wants to call it basset hound town. It potentially will be servicing basset hounds in the Carolinas. He links to Carolina Basset Hound Rescue on his .org but they claim they are in no way a part of this clinic. None of this makes any sense.
PICK ANOTHER NAME! Mine is taken! For the love of dog start out with some ethics!
There is a sheriff in town! He protects his Mommy!
More reporting later…sigh….Love Sad Cat, Chaps and Emma:(
The following blog update are my professional opinions and conclusions based upon my detailed research of this unfortunate incident.
10-2-16 – Update – regarding this wacky and frankly disturbing issue of why someone would steal someone else’s identity. Stealing, theft what ever you want to call it. Something was clearly wrong with this person and I never figured it out and I guess I never will. Turns out he passed away a few years ago. He was only 57. Since the obituary mentions basset hound town I am under an obligation to reply.
“Terry was also the Founder of The Original Future of Packaging, LLC and Basset Hound Town, Inc.”
Terry Miller never had anything to do with basset hound town. Basset hound town is owned solely by myself, Cathy L. Rudert. Basset hound town has a copyright!
The .org still has a facebook page and a website. The entire thing is just a real mystery that I guess went to the grave, or maybe someone out in our demographic has some kind of clue??? Miller, clearly, IMO wanted to gain some notoriety from stealing my name and maybe, if you think about it, wanted to be shady and beg for donations using my name. He was clearly confusing our demographic by the odd decisions he made. I personally always thought that he should have picked a name like “Low County Bassets”. It would have fit right in with the rescue that he so dearly loved and asked that donations be made to after his death. That would have been really cute and fit right in with what he was doing. What was he doing? His obit said he worked hard for basset hound town (really?) He never lifted a finger for me – he only evaded my e-mails, phone calls, private messages, and all communications. I want this made perfectly clear if anyone winds up here to see what Terry Miller’s obits says about basset hound town (they left out the .org) is not true. He only served to confuse a small number of our demographic and for what reason other than notoriety and scamming donations I have no clue. I know he was in contact with some of the big wigs in our demographic so the whole thing is just real shady. The only thing I could glean was that he wanted to open a vet type of facility for basset hounds and call it basset hound town??? I still like my name better for what he claimed to be “working hard” on. What a wacky whirlwind it has been with this poacher. I tried my best to work with him but he 100% shunned me. He clearly had a love of basset hounds and for that I am glad. He did have joy in his life but he brought about a lot of pain for me. Rest in peace Terry Miller – There is a basset hound town section of the rainbow bridge that you are more than welcome to visit. It is run by Chaps. He will see to it you are welcome. He was never one to hold a grudge. You can find basset hound town with the following map. After you crossed over the bridge, turn to the right and basset hound town is the third cloud to the north. I will continue to protect my patch of happiness right here on earth living, loving, creating, and caring for the only basset hound town there is. Dog bless and Dog speed…
GREENSBORO, NC– Mr. Terry Stuart Miller, 57, of Greensboro passed away in his home on Friday, April 25, 2014.
Memorials may be made to Carolina Basset Hound Rescue (CBHR), PO Box 80082, Charleston, SC 29416-0082, or Hospice & Palliative Care of Greensboro, 2500 Summit Avenue, Greensboro, NC 27405.
Comments(28)
Oh my dog that is terrible! Howl can anyone even think about stealing the name of our town. You work on this and have Chaps use his power to help you figure this out. Keep us posted on this and good luck!
Not to throw a stone in your gears, but if you didn’t want someone else to have the same name, why didn’t you buy the other domains? To prevent someone else from having it, you should have bought the .org, .net, or any other possible .somethings of your site. And to be honest, their site looks professionally done, so it seems to me like they’ve invested more money into what they’re doing. Also the site doesn’t say they are affiliated with Carolina Basset Hound Rescue, so why you would contact them about it is beyond me. I don’t even see how it could even impede your business, considering you guys are on opposite sides of the country.
Cat, I ran into the drawing of that proposed clinic one day when I clicked on the wrong choice trying to get here. I thought it was you and Chaps drawing up a plan for the future! Once you pay for the name of a domain , can someone else use it like this? I thought they had to change it up a bit more….!?!
“John” (wink, wink) or whoever you are. Why do you feel the need to hide behind a fake g-mail account? Is it because you support a fake basset hound town website address? I sent you an e-mail and asked you to have Terry respond to me so I can explain ETHICS to him. I am allowing this comment but the next one needs to have a real e-mail address. I just wanted to show everyone the mentality behind this pipe dream and the people who support it. I contacted CBHR because they know all about this. Terry Miller links to them on his site. I could not get Terry to answer me so I contacted the basset hound rescue he supports and links to. Oh, and BTW, do you know where KY is in relation to North Carolina, the state your IP address comes from? Don’t hide “John”. Tell Terry to do the right thing and contact me. Again, use a real e-mail address if you want to comment in the future. You can’t hide on my blog.
Debbie, ethically they should. When you buy a domain name you must key in your choice. In this case, my domain would have come up first and other dots would have been offered. So, if you are smart your would check out the .com. This .org is asking for money and using my name. This is a huge problem not to mention totally unethical.
well geez “john” that’s a low blow…grow a set & handle the incident like a person with some or perhaps you got fixed in a clinic that doesn’t exist only in someone’s mind.
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yes i know..i fired my own nasty low blow in response but i just feel that if this person really is interested in making the world a better place then it goes beyond fighting over the sake of a name & fighting for the hounds..because then you have lost touch of your issues, your priorities. if saving & healing hounds is indeed your main priority & you were asked to change or alter your name since it was already in use then why such the drama?
be a man. change it. offer to..altho the time has passed..what is that old saying..”you kill more more flies with honey?”
at this point there are no good feelings & your work will always be tainted with bad memories…is that how you want it be thought of? all because of stubbornness? pride?
& if the rescue was aware of this & did nothing, well shame on them. they need to step up & offer an explanation in my opinion (which counts as nothing)
Oh my Cat! I am terrible sorry you are having to go through this headache. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help! Hope you had a lovely weekend otherwise.
Cat,
There is only one Basset Hound Town for Slinky and ME!
If there is anything we can do to help just let us know.
Dear Lois….”John” was actually drunk e-mailing me at 3:00 this morning from Clemmons North Carolina. Oh it was not pretty. I could actually read the words slurring. Again, I really think the mentality of this project is pretty low. I also think that Carolina Basset Hound Rescue is grabbing at straws and sinking further into the delusion of this project. The management of both places (the .org and the rescue) is below what it takes to make any venture work. It really is very sad to see. It seems so desperate.
The rescue is well aware of this new .org and they just don’t care that they are involved in the deception of using my name to beg for money. They are putting up a big fight on facebook. They actually have been aware of it for years. For reasons known only to themselves they don’t want to seem affiliated with the .org but they are and they want to use my good name to make money. I call that a scam.
RHandK – We did have a lovey weekend otherwise. We are starting to buy flowers for bassethoundtown. It is looking so pretty. I cannot wait to get the kids in front of the new hydrangeas. We added a bit of acid to the soil but I do love the pink ones as well.
This is the biggest headache I have had with my website. It is a nightmare but I have very good counsel. It takes a lot of money to do things right but I have paid my dues putting all of my ducks in order. I don’t pretend to be a business, I am a business. I pay the taxes to prove it! LOL
MandS – Thank you darlings. You have been residents since I think we broke ground in the town! Loyal and true friends. Thanks again.
Hi Debbie! See, you are the prime example of what I am fighting. Confusing folks on the internet. It is not allowed in the advertising world and it is not allowed on the internet. Just dirty pool.
Hi Cat,
Seems to me if “JOHN” would be up to snuff he would have contacted in the beginning and to work things out and do it RIGHT. Yes, this schmuck is definitely not an ethics person.
Kiss the kids for me, just can’t get enough of Chaps and Emma; you are a wonderful mommy! Your pictures and writings spell “LOVE”.
The more I learn of this situation, the more it makes me think this is a scam. If the “.org” was legit, they would be contacting you to straighten this out (or their lawyers would be contacting you).
Well, I bet you any amount of money that the other town doesn’t even have a mayor. And you can’t have a town without a mayor. So, this is still the only basset hound town as far as I’m concerned.
JanM – Yes, I totally agree with you. Unfortunately, dog rescue is a hot bed for scams. I like to keep sniffing out the bad guys but this one came right into my yard. So far still not contact. Thanks for your comment
CJROH! That is too funny. I bet they don’t have a Mayor either! They better not. Burger boy extraordinary handsome and beautiful just walked into the office. Himz has such a regal stride!
Hi Gabrielle – yes, ole Terry, aka “John” is in hiding for some reason. He has all of the woman down at Carolina Basset Hound Rescue all in a wad. They keep trying to explain the situation and howl they are not involved in the .org but they keep rambling on and on about howl wonderful this guy is. It is on their facebook page. I even asked them to contact me but I think they are scared of me. hehehe
Thanks for the compliment about the kids. Right now the Mayor is licking that big beautiful freckled paw I blogged about today.
Just as an FYI: There are countless businesses, organizations and groups currently in existence which share a common name. When you consider the sheer number of people living and working in the US alone and then couple that with the average amount of ideas any one person will generate over the course of their adult life, it is statistically improbable that any one business name or idea will be 100% unique just as it improbable for any given start up group or business to learn of every single business or group in existence, which their choice of name might duplicate. It is for this reason that the ® and ™ exist. For those businesses wishing to hold the exclusive rights to a given name, it is necessary for the business owner(s) to go through the appropriate legal channels to have that name registered. Simply copyrighting your website, registering your company as an LLC and/or incorporating your business, does not translate into automatically having your business’s name legally protected. Although the ™ is much easier to use and does provide a business some common law protection, it will not offer the same comprehensive protections as would the use of the ®, which is obtained via registration with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
I am a scientist and thus I base my opinions and decisions on facts. I learned about this “situation” through a family member and so I decided to take a look at it from multiple angles and an “outsider’s” viewpoint. The first thing I notice is that when you do a web search for “BassetHoundTown” using any of the main search engines, the first hits to be displayed are all for the commercial site, with the non-commercial website hitting well after (There is also a bassethoundtown.it that hits as well). So as long as the majority of people are using your typical search engines, I do not think there is much room for confusion here. However, should someone mistakenly get routed to the non-commercial website for whatever reason, it will become quite clear after merely a click or two, that there is nothing for sale on that website. In fact, I do a significant amount of shopping online and run into the situation of multiple businesses having the same name and nearly identical website url’s all of the time, and I have never found myself so confused that I could not navigate to the appropriate website to purchase my goods, so I would not foresee such an issue in this case either.
In the end, you have one site which is operating as a business which has the primary goal of turning a monetary profit and one site which is operating as a not-for-profit organization that has the primary goal of building a shelter/clinic for needy basset hounds, thus there is no direct competition here. It is difficult for me to understand why so much negativity is being thrown to the people who are trying to start up this shelter/clinic for basset hounds. There are so many unwanted, abused and neglected animals at current that are in very poor health, and a good majority of them will reach the Rainbow Bridge without ever having the chance to know what it is like to be well cared for and loved, so why not offer support and encouragement to any one person or group who is trying to do something to help save even a small fraction of those animals from such a fate? Everything has a beginning and history teaches us that some of the greatest organizations in existence today were at one point, thought by many, to be merely someone else’s “pipe dream”.
Ashley – I know all about copyright and trademarks. For the life of me I don’t understand why everyone that comments in support of Terry is an “outsider” who has just “stumbled upon” my website. Come on….you wrote a book about this “situation”. The information you provided about business is all true! I know all of that. I have been in business since the 1980s. I worked with international trade relations where ethics is of the utmost importance. Prior to that I went to several Universities and studied business ethics and graduated with ethics as a major in my business degree. What I am talking about here is ETHICS, not greed!
I also know all about Google and all the other search engines. I do my homework and I am a good student. I follow my stats and hire the best hosting company in the USA. I also hire a magnificent website designer that I have worked with since 2005. I bought my name back in 2004. I know howl the web works. I have been surfing since it started!
As a self described “outsider” you have no clue what is going on. Have the family member, (Terry’s son) the one you are talking about call his Dad and have him contact me. That would be what is best. You really have to be in this community to make an informed comment. It is all fine and good to look at this from a clinical, scientific standpoint but my business and rescue (I am not a 501(c)3) are not clinical and not scientific, but very ethical. Ethical businesses are protected under the laws you outline in your comment. They protect ethical businesses from someone attaching their money making project to that good name (mine in this case). Terry is asking for donations in the name of bassethoundtown. Me. This is confusing and just wrong.
Thank you for your business advise but I do have legal counsel as I have had since 1997. What I think, is that Terry needs some sound advise right now. I know it is tempting to glob onto a successful business such as mine but it is just shady.
What we are talking about here is ethics. Some people have it and some don’t. This .org is NOT a not for profit and as I see it, a 501(c)3 status might be hard to obtain in this case. As far as that goes, a NFP status is hard to obtain in any case. The IRS is really strict about this. So, to reiterate – Terry Miller does not have 501(c)3 status and he is asking for donations in my name. I have proof that folks are confused via multiple e-mails. I keep everything.
Ashley, you are not the judge and jury in this “situation”. Just because you do not foresee any issues does not mean anything. You are someone who is an “outsider”, looking in and trying to apply mathematics to solve a big problem that is not mathematical. This “situation” is not like shopping on the internet.
Terry can be a real man and just do what is right. IN MY OPINION, he knowingly and unethically picked my name. The name Basset Hound Town does not even fit what his business venture is. He is a clinic, I think, but that is not even clear because Terry will not come out of hiding to explain any of this. He states he is not going to rescue but the rescue hounds that will come into his facility will be “mostly healthy”. He links to Carolina Basset Hound Rescue but they will not admit they are involved. I know howl this works Ashley. I am not an “outsider”.
Right now the .org is a concept with a company called Animal Arts. They may or may not be hired to build the facility.
Something smells rotten on the web and I for one am not going to let it go. Everything happens for a reason.
“Pipe dreams” are all well and good but attach that pipe to a solid foundation not someone’s actual dream that came true. It makes the “pipe dream” person look desperate. In this community you have to prove yourself. You just can’t march in with your deep pockets and grab and take what you want in the name of needy basset hounds.
Your comments about unwanted, abused and neglected animal are all things people in our community have dealt with for decades. Remember, you are the self proclaimed “outsider”. Read the information on the .org very carefully. Also, notice there is no contact information. To me that is a huge red flag. I always look for the contact person when these hair brained ventures pop up. You really can’t hide on the internet. Why would Terry want to hide? I found his e-mail address on the whois domain lookup site and when I e-mailed him, he changed that information to PRIVATE. What is going on here?
Keep both eyes on this “situation” Ashley. I foresee an ethics lesson.
Thanks for the comments but I do look so forward to hearing from Terry, howl ever, I won’t hold my breath.
Cat
Bassethound Enterprises since 1997
Hi Cat,
Well put Cat; as it appears that “Ashley the SCIENTIST” is ALL science and NO common sense! I found Ashley’s comments rather brazen and offensive! And yes, why have we not heard from Terry aka John, sure looks fishy to me!
Kiss those beautiful kids for me!!!
Hey Gabrielle – Ashley is pretty high on herself. I can’t understand folks that know nothing about the topic and them claim to know it all. Just more proof of the mentality of this group. It ranges from drunks to scientists. None of them have a clue.
Cat,
You got it!!! Like my Mom used to say “can’t argue with a fool!
Thank heaven for people like you and your adorable “twosome”, love your kids! With that in mind having a sweet and loving basset hound will make up for the ignorance of the “educated” among us! Kiss those adorable kids for me and perhaps a treat is in order.
Oh, your Mom was absolutely right. Why someone would hide and cower about a new business venture is beyond me. The kids and I are getting ready to head to the tornado shelter if need be. We have yet another bad storm on the way. Chaps has on his Thundershirt!
Cat, did you see where Ashley just “friended” the .org on facebook? Her Mom is involved with Carolina Basset Hound Rescue. Her name is Dianne. What a crock. I figured this out all by my little self and I am not even a scientist!
LOL – BNY –
But Ashley is an “outsider”!
“The lady doth protest too much”. Always a giveaway.
I suggest Ashley start a blog in honor of Terry and his new business venture. She sure likes to yammer on and on.
and the man behind the curtain continues to shout…..and yet CBHR claims to not be affiliated with .org? Odd that one would make so much noise then isn’t it? I spewed coffee with the “I’m a scientist and thus base my decisions on facts” part…that’s just funny; as in ‘mad scientist!’ I’ve had concerns about CBHR for some time, very disorganized and very abrupt and crass communication when I purchased items to support their waddle (which I and I’m sure others will not be supporting in the future…..Ashley that reads $$$)
Cat, the only negative comments are from CBHR & associates. Allow their comments to stay so all can see how unethical and unprofessional they really are.
Thanks Paula. Thanks so much…