06/15/2025
Today we had to turn a family away — and I don’t feel bad about it.
Not every customer is a good customer, and not every prospective adopter is a good family. I give people a lot of chances to be clear, and sometimes they just tell on themselves.
This family came in, saw our chinchillas, and said, “They must breed fast!” I corrected them: they don’t. Breeding may start fast, but it’s a slow process — 110-day pregnancy, small litters, plus nursing time.
They nodded, wandered, then circled back — someone else pointed out we had both males and females. Another mentioned how their cousin or friend “really wanted a baby.”
I repeated why breeding rescue animals is irresponsible. They insisted they wouldn’t. Sure. 🤨
Then I asked:
Do you have supplies? ❌
A cage? ❌
What they did show me: a broken bird cage, a dirty dog crate, and a stock wire cage with 3" spacing.
At that point, I said no.
I speak to every chinchilla adopter. I can’t catch everyone, but some red flags are obvious...
We can’t stop backyard breeders or negligent owners entirely. But we can try to make sure it’s not one of our animals. If they’re determined to mistreat an animal, they’ll have to lie to a pet store or breeder.
We won’t make it cheap or easy.
