ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Rochester Community and Technical College’s veterinary technician program has ended its class fieldtrips to the Moulton Chinchilla Ranch 30 miles away in Chatfield. The Rochester program was among colleges targeted by the organization People for Ethical Treatment of Animals to sever connections with the Moulton facility. PETA says the farm sells the chinchillas to high-profile laboratories. These, PETA said, include the University of Minnesota, the National Institutes of Health, the Navy, and Harvard Medical School. Also, said PETA universities in Germany and China have experimented on Moulton chinchillas. PETA says records show that experimenters at the University of Minnesota have induced painful ear infections in chinchillas by injecting a strain of streptococcus pneumoniae ear tissue. Some of them developed meningitis and were killed.
