Victoria SPCA Overrun with Chinchillas

bunnicula · 06-04-2007, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Wanted: good homes for furry rodents
Victoria SPCA is overrun with rapidly multiplying chinchillas rescued from breeder

SHANNON MONEO
Special to The Globe and Mail
May 29, 2007

Clusters of caged chinchillas destined to be draped around fur lovers were rescued from a rat-infested shed by SPCA staff, and now, the proliferating rodents need new digs.

Eight male and 43 female chinchillas were removed from a residence in Metchosin, a rural suburb west of Victoria, in April.

Forty have been adopted but more than 60 are left, their numbers increasing as the fecund females continue to give birth to litters of one to four chattering "chins.""They are absolutely cute little things," said Penny Stone, manager of the Victoria Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, referring to the golf-ball-sized newborns who arrive ready to ramble within hours. "They're like something you see in a cartoon."

Six chinchillas reside in the SPCA's shelter while 55 of the nocturnal critters have been fostered out because they can't tolerate the shelter's hubbub and there isn't room for them.

It costs $50 to adopt a chinchilla from the SPCA.

Ms. Stone, who operated a dog-food bakery before becoming SPCA manager 2Ã‚Â½ years ago, will allow the chinchillas only into homes where they will be well-cared for, unlike their previous lodgings.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...Story/National

suzoo · 06-04-2007, 08:32 PM

Wow! That's alot of work! Our shelter has had these types of confiscations before.. finding proper caging, houses & water bottles for each of them is hard & expensive. Not to mention the price of feeding that many chinchillas.. seeing as chinchilla pellets are so much more expensive (than say rabbit or guinea pig pellets.)
I wish them luck finding new homes for them all. I wish I lived there.. I'd foster some moms & kits for them.