PETA Tip Leads to Rescue of More Than 1,100 Chinchillas; 150+ Recover at Norfolk HQ
For Immediate Release:
November 4, 2026
Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382
After PETA tipped off federal inspectors to hundreds of chinchillas being hidden at a breeding operation that sold the animals to laboratories for experimentation and to the pet trade, federal authorities called on PETA for help rescuing those in the worst condition while they worked to secure the removal of the remaining animals—and all 1,100+ chinchillas are now being rescued as part of a consent decree announced Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Joined by an independent veterinarian with expertise in small mammals, PETA’s rescue teams packed two vans loaded with more than 100 new carriers and made two 24-hour round-trip drives to Ohio to rescue more than 150 chinchillas most in need of care, many suffering from infections, severe matting, and painful injuries, and brought them to PETA’s Sam Simon Center in Norfolk, where they are recuperating. Photos of the chinchillas at PETA are available here. Photos of the chinchillas from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspections before PETA’s rescue are here.
On September 16 and 30, PETA teams, accompanied by USDA officials, removed 158 chinchillas from R & R Chinchilla, Inc. in Jenera, Ohio. In the building that housed the chinchillas, fecal material and filthy bedding littered the floors and bottom of the cages, cobwebs covered the enclosures, and there were clumps of hair from animals becoming trapped in wire fencing
Veterinary examinations back in Norfolk found chinchillas with painfully inflamed feet, swollen eyes sealed shut by infections, matted and urine-stained fur, raw skin, and other ailments. Several females also bore scars apparently caused by metal breeding collars designed to prevent them from escaping when males entered their cages to mate. A number of the chinchillas gave birth to kits at PETA in the weeks following the rescue. The chinchillas are receiving veterinary treatment and recovering on soft, clean bedding in cool, well-ventilated rooms with fresh food, water, hay, cozy hideouts, and ample enrichment toys.
“These chinchillas knew nothing but filth, misery, and neglect at this breeding hellhole, but now they’re finally safe in Norfolk getting the care and comfort they desperately needed,” says PETA Vice President of Legal Advocacy Daniel Paden. “PETA reminds everyone that animals at pet stores come from mass breeders like this one, where hundreds or even thousands languish out of public view, and to never buy any animal from a pet store or breeder.”
The rescue came after a 39-page complaint filed by the DOJ against R & R Chinchilla owner and operator James Ritterspach and his facility seeking declarative and injunctive relief. The USDA cited Ritterspach for 24 apparent violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act and suspended R & R Chinchilla’s license. On September 4, a modified temporary restraining order required Ritterspach to relinquish 800 or more chinchillas he had hidden from federal inspectors in a dilapidated building—animals whose existence came to light only after PETA alerted authorities. Federal inspectors had previously counted fewer than 400 chinchillas at the breeding factory, a fraction of the number actually being kept there.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
