The group video showed chinchillas with pus-filled eyes and visible bones in a breeder’s warehouse, where hundreds of animals are in dire conditions.
For immediate release:
February 24, 2021
Contact:
Moira Collie 202-483-7382
Chatfield, Minnesota. – Learning from PETA about the terrible suffering of animals, covert investigation video Moulton Chinchilla Ranch (MCR) near Chatfield, Atlas of pet supplies abandoned MCR as a supplier – its CEO called the terms “completely unacceptable” – and Rochester Community and Technical CollegeThe Veterinary Technician Program has completed its study visits to the mill. Program Manager Dr. Kimberly Rowley said she was “shocked” and “alarmed” by the results of the study.
A PETA witness who has worked for MCR, which supplies animals to laboratories and the pet trade, has gathered evidence showing that nearly 1,000 chinchillas have been trapped in close, open wire cages. They were denied veterinary care for an abscess and ruptured breast tissue, bulging or pus-filled eyes, and other serious medical conditions. One chinchilla died after being deprived of veterinary care due to a raw bloody wound, and another died after being attacked by a breeder’s dog and left to suffer the night without worry. One chinchilla had a large chin mass – a factory owner confessed to killing this animal and other chinchillas in an attempt to break their necks – a method that was considered unacceptable for chinchillas.
“This distributor and community college immediately severed ties with the Moulton Chinchilla Ranch after seeing the animals left to suffer and die without basic necessities or even minimal veterinary care,” says PETA Senior Vice President of Investigation of Cruelty Daphne Nachminovich. “This blatant disregard is the reason PETA is urging every institution that has done business with this chinchilla factory to rethink its relationship immediately and urges the public to never buy animals from pet stores or breeders.”
As a result of PETA’s investigations, local authorities executed a search warrant and launched a criminal investigation into the MCR case. PETA has also submitted evidence to the USDA, which has cited more than 100 federal animal welfare law violations against the facility since 2013, and filed a formal complaint against the mill in 2018, which is pending.
There are photos from the investigation available here… PETA, whose motto is in part that “animals are not ours to experiment on” – opposes arrogance, a worldview based on human superiority. For more information please visit PETA.org or subscribe to the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram…