Sick chinchillas languish at farms that supply U.S. researchers
By
Meredith WadmanMay. 26, 2020 , 3:10 PM
Biomedical researchers rely on chinchillas–docile South American rodents with ears strikingly similar to those of humans—for studies of ear infections and hearing loss. But the two main U.S. chinchilla suppliers to research labs have for years violated the U.S. Animal Welfare Act, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which enforces that law. Until the pandemic descended, the two suppliers sent hundreds of animals to U.S. labs.
Those suppliers failed to identify and treat sick and injured animals, kept them in filthy barns and excrement-laden enclosures, and failed to clear dead animals, according to USDA inspection reports recently restored to full public view. One supplier, Moulton Chinchilla Ranch (MCR) in Chatfield, Minnesota, has a 9-year record of violations and was to have faced an agency judge in April at a hearing;
that hearing was postponed because of the pandemic...
