Zoaea
O.o
I will admit, small cute fluffy animals make my heart melt. That's one of the things that made chinchillas catch my eye so many years ago. I think mini and baby animals have long caught the fascination of people. Teacup dogs are a good example. My oldest chin is a real blockly, big girl, she tries to be a shoulder chin but mostly fails at the task.
Many years ago I stumbled on pics and vague mentions of dwarf chinchillas. Every so often I go back to thinking about them (I'm totally obsessed with Che's little beige guy). I mostly put it out of my mind because so far most of the anecdotal information points to them having increase health issues, although info is scarce and usually second hand.
In humans, Dwarfism is a broad category of genetic mutations that cause growth differences, not just one type. There are over 80 types of dwarfism in humans. Some forms are terminal causing the person to die in early childhood, others still cause physical disability and can shorten the lifespan. With some types the person merely appears to be smaller than normal but has a fully functioning body and life span (some might be familiar with the term midget but this really a form of dwarfism).
Now the reason I put this in the debate section is because I want peoples opinion on the topic of breeding for smaller chinchillas.
NOTE: ethically if the animals had health issues or shortened lifespans obviously the mutation would not be worth breeding.
If a strain of dwarfism in chinchillas pops up where the animal's health is not impacted negatively, but rather the affected offspring appeared to be small, say 350-500 grams. Do you think it would be ethical to breed that strain for the pet market? If so what about issues with the fully affected females, they could not be used in breeding, but would it be safe to sell them as pets if the owners might mix them with a male? What about trying to control access to the mutation by desexing animals with the trait before selling them to pet only homes.
My own mind set seems to go back and forth between the different sides. Sometimes I feel it is not worth the risk even if a 'healthy' form of dwarfism exists/is found because of what might happen to the chins in their pet homes. Other times I feel that smaller animals would be more appealing to the pet market and might create a greater interest in chinchillas from that sector.
To me it would be similar to some of the more recent mutations like Locken (sp?) and Royal Angora in that, if the mutation was used, it would not make the animals appealing to the show/pelt market, but increases the interest from pet owners. So I would like to hear people opinion on the business perspective as well as from an ethics perspective.
Many years ago I stumbled on pics and vague mentions of dwarf chinchillas. Every so often I go back to thinking about them (I'm totally obsessed with Che's little beige guy). I mostly put it out of my mind because so far most of the anecdotal information points to them having increase health issues, although info is scarce and usually second hand.
In humans, Dwarfism is a broad category of genetic mutations that cause growth differences, not just one type. There are over 80 types of dwarfism in humans. Some forms are terminal causing the person to die in early childhood, others still cause physical disability and can shorten the lifespan. With some types the person merely appears to be smaller than normal but has a fully functioning body and life span (some might be familiar with the term midget but this really a form of dwarfism).
Now the reason I put this in the debate section is because I want peoples opinion on the topic of breeding for smaller chinchillas.
NOTE: ethically if the animals had health issues or shortened lifespans obviously the mutation would not be worth breeding.
If a strain of dwarfism in chinchillas pops up where the animal's health is not impacted negatively, but rather the affected offspring appeared to be small, say 350-500 grams. Do you think it would be ethical to breed that strain for the pet market? If so what about issues with the fully affected females, they could not be used in breeding, but would it be safe to sell them as pets if the owners might mix them with a male? What about trying to control access to the mutation by desexing animals with the trait before selling them to pet only homes.
My own mind set seems to go back and forth between the different sides. Sometimes I feel it is not worth the risk even if a 'healthy' form of dwarfism exists/is found because of what might happen to the chins in their pet homes. Other times I feel that smaller animals would be more appealing to the pet market and might create a greater interest in chinchillas from that sector.
To me it would be similar to some of the more recent mutations like Locken (sp?) and Royal Angora in that, if the mutation was used, it would not make the animals appealing to the show/pelt market, but increases the interest from pet owners. So I would like to hear people opinion on the business perspective as well as from an ethics perspective.
