10/28/2026
This is important information for those of us in the chinchilla community to have. It is infuriating how the spread of disease could have been prevented if others had listened to experts. How bad does this have to become?! 😢
The board of Empress Chinchilla Breeder’s Cooperative (ECBC) has been aware of the R&R Chinchilla situation in Janera, Ohio since the beginning of August 2026 and we want to ensure the chinchilla community and the wider public that while the organization has been mostly silent publicly about the ever-evolving situation, we were neither ignoring nor being silent in the background during the process. Because of the organizations involved in the initial complaint and court filings, the eventual placement of 800 chinchillas was initially in limbo, and due to their beliefs and mission statements, any organization with any positive attitude towards breeding was barred from participation in placement – including ECBC.
ECBC board members were working diligently to support and advocate for the 10 page well-formulated and complete plan submitted to the Department of Justice and the lead prosecuting attorney on this case by the Global Chinchilla Alliance (GCA); a plan that provided a USDA licensed, secure location with complete quarantine of all the chinchillas, veterinary care, and the appropriate husbandry knowledge. This proposal would ensure these chinchillas were afforded the best chance at a life moving forward after appropriate quarantine periods for both pregnancy and communicable, zoonotic diseases, which this herd is known to harbor. This plan assumed 6-12 months to bring these animals to full health.
Despite industry experts providing the solution to a burgeoning problem, GCA was rebuffed, and the animals were slowly released into the care of PETA and Humane World for Animals (HWA) who had no plans in place aside from social media pleas to non-chinchilla shelters to take in these animals. Both of these organizations were informed of the presence of Streptococcus equi zooepidemicus in this herd, and the need for appropriate quarantines and testing; despite this information, they opted to farm out these already ill and vulnerable chinchillas piecemeal across the Eastern Seaboard, New England, and now the Midwest, to Humane Societies with little to no experience in chinchillas, and no warning of the zoonotic disease they may be carrying.
Members of ECBC have been diligently attempting to contact each of these places as posts show up on social media but have found that the warnings are akin to putting out an inferno with a glass of water. Because the industry experts were kept out of the conversation, despite repeated attempts to assist, these chinchillas are being put up for adoption already and sent out to pet stores in communities for sale, or adoption at the organizations who received them. The last of the chinchillas were removed from R&R on 10/13 and 10/14/2026 by HWA, and no appropriate quarantines, testing, or pregnancy holds have been performed in that amount of time, as pregnancy quarantine should be a minimum of 115 days. These chinchillas came from a breeder, so any females should be assumed pregnant and not sent to new homes. The chinchilla industry standard recommended minimum for quarantine is 30 days for males and animals too young to breed.
ECBC is disappointed that our information has been disregarded by both PETA and HWA, and most, if not all, of the locations that have received these chinchillas have expressed surprise at the information regarding a zoonotic illness. The possibility of cross-species infection including humans is known, and the warning was issued by GCA to those involved in this case. Any illnesses linked to these animals in non-chinchillas was 100% preventable, but because the chinchilla community lacks millions of dollars and a slick PR firm, we will be dealing with the fallout from this for years to come.
We at Empress Chinchilla feel that this reckless disregard for the health and safety of the chinchillas, and those who received them, to be utterly reprehensible and we condemn it in the strongest possible manner.
