PLYMOUTH — The People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has asked Norwalk’s city law director investigate a chinchilla farm for allegations of cruelty to animals.
According to Daniel Paden, vice president of evidence analysis for PETA in Norfolk, Va., a Plymouth breeding mill at 5067 New State Road, known as Ryerson Chinchilla Ranch, has shown evidence of “horrific conditions and neglect” among its 1,750 chinchillas.
The facility is located northeast of Plymouth.
Chinchillas are slightly larger and more robust than ground squirrels. Native to the Andes mountains in South America, their fur is considered valuable.
“These individuals have been in business a very long time, and they know how to give better care to animals,” Paden said. “This is one of the more prominent chinchilla breeders in the United States.
“This is not ignorance. This is sheer negligence,” Paden said.
Jan Ryerson, owner of Ryerson Chincilla Ranch, said she disagrees with PETA’s findings.
“The cages are in good condition,” she said. “We have had the USDA and veterinarians come out. We’ve corrected anything that was wrong.”
Paden said federal inspectors documented two chinchillas whose eyes were so severely crusted or swollen shut that they could not be opened as well as four chinchillas whose eyes were sealed with white discharge.
Another animal’s eyes were still swollen after an attack by a stressed cagemate six weeks earlier, PETA said. One chinchilla’s severely overgrown incisors interfered with the animal’s ability to eat. Many of the cages — to which 1,750 chinchillas were confined around the clock indefinitely —contained feces and urine-soaked bedding, PETA said.
PETA asked Norwalk Law Director G. Stuart O’Hara Jr. this week to investigate the operation. If prosecuted and convicted these allegations would be misdemeanors.
O’Hara Jr. confirmed he received an email from PETA and his department is looking into the report from the USDA.
“At this point, we are just beginning to look into it,” he said.
