CHATFIELD, Minn. – One of the last remnants of the once-thriving Root River fur industry, Moulton Chinchilla Ranch, was cited anew by a federal agency, this time for 42 new animal-welfare violations. U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors reported that a June check found some deficiencies corrected since a February inspection, but there were new ones. Among them were eight animals with unkempt, oily and matted coats. Also:
> An ebony male was missing a lower incisor and had a small firm swelling on the bridge of his nose.
> A female’s right eye was swollen and sealed shut and her right ear had dried crusty material and pale discharge.
> A female had discharge and hair loss in her urogenital region.
Dust baths that chinchillas need every few days for hygiene have unavailable for at least three weeks, inspectors said. The floor below some enclosures had excessive waste, inspectors said. The smell of ammonia was so overpowering that inspectors’ throats and eyes were irritated. The next step, the agency said, could be criminal charges. The chinchilla ranch is owned by Rochester lawyer Dan Moulton and his wife Sue as a sideline.
Earlier: Animal rights group: End Chatfield chinchilla abuse
Chinchilla profile
In their native Andes in South America, chinchillas thrive at altitudes as high as 14,000 feet. Typically they’re about a pound, sometimes 1-1/2 pounds. “Pocket pets” they’re called. Their coats are dense and velvety. No other land mammal has a thicker coat. Native Andean peoples wore chincill fur. Beginning in the 1700s chinchillas were raised in chinchilla farms for the fur industry. Today they’re sold mostly as pets and for medical research. As pets they require extensive exercise and dental care. Because they don’t sweat, they need temperature-controlled housing. The animals instinctively clean their fur by rolling in fine dust a few times a week. Their thick fur resists fleas and other parasites.
An imported species. With permission from the Chilean government in 1923, an American mining engineer, Mathias Chapman, imported the first chinchillas, 11 in all, to the United States. Nearly every pet chinchilla in the United States is descended from Chapman’s brood. Through selective breeding, there are many colors — silver, yellow-gray, bluish-gray, white, beige and black. No matter the color, each hair ends in a black tip.