Would you breed a pet store chin?

[Claire D]

But what makes a backyard breeder different from a reputable breeder is not the qualities they are choosing, but rather how selective they are about those qualities and the care the animals receives while at the breeders and afterwards. Backyard breeders do little to no research, whereas the reputable breeder does tons in order to give their animals the best.

Excuse me for going back a bit but I wanted to pick up on something Huffnpoof said here. I have highlighted a sentence which Tab commented on but I would like to add another couple of comments:

I know of several "backyard" breeders here in the UK who have well researched, professional-looking websites which look, to all intents & purposes, to be highly reputable. They have good information & if you ever speak to these people they sound convincing, caring & sincere.......... BUT they will throw any colour together & churn out poor quality chinchillas all year round. Some of them even claim to "rescue" but they are simply re-homing perfectly healthy chins for a fee - in reality they are "dealers".

I do not agree that a backyard breeder is necessarily someone who has not done research into chins - the key (I believe) is in the fact that they churn out loads of variable quality chins, often different mutation mixes, for money.

Every domesticated animal has a purpose. Standards are created to make sure animals remain suitable for that purpose, and breeding to improve means you are pairing to make that animal better at its job. If you are not breeding to meet and beat that standard, you are a backyard breeder.


The purpose of chins is to be pelted, and their standard (or what they're judged for) reflects what would make the best pelt. Temperament has nothing to do with how nice their coats are, and therefore is not judged. If you're not breeding to that standard, even if you're not a pelter as most on this forum aren't, you are not improving them. I have no problem with those who choose to include temperament in their criteria for breeding chins so long as it's not the only criterion.

I understand that, as a pet owner, you are looking for a friendly companion animal. However, a responsible breeder isn't breeding for you.

As a comparison, here in the UK we have no pelt market - there is still a pelt market in Europe though. Chinchillas here are bred for the pet market (with the very few exceptions of breeders who export to Europe) but we still aim towards the pelt standards & shows are run using pelt standard criteria.

Even from a pet market place I agree with much of what Mish has posted above - responsible breeders breed for health & quality on the show bench first & foremost.

 

[Spoof]

was referring to Spoof's comment about culling (I was going to quote it but I don't know how to quote two posts in the same text box). I understand the definition of the word is just to remove from the breeding practice, though, but thank you for clarifying.

Like Susan said, most of the time culling means finding them a pet home these days. )

 

[ticklechin]

Even the most nasty physically abused rescue can be tamed to be a lap chin with enough experience and effort. Breeding for personality is just not important since ALL chins can be tamed. Pet owners want gorgeous chins too, we are not looking for rat faced, skinny grease balls like some chins that are listed in the classifieds by BYBs.

 

[Nickv0195]

i have on accident , but would never do it purposely. It was an acident because the pet store told me it was a female , and it was a male. So i ended up with baby chinchillas. I didn't even think to check if it was a boy or a girl, but the most recent one i bought from the pet store i checked and will always check for now on.

 

[KristinC1983]

I said NO...

In my opinion, chinchillas don't belong anywhere near petshops! They are such nervous, special animals and petstores are run and owned by idiots most of the time who don't care about any of the animals they sell! So I think its a pretty natural assumption that chinchilla breeders or any breeders of any animals who sell to petstores also do not care about the animals they're selling-it's about the money. Paperwork can easily lie, so when you buy a chin from a petshop (or any animal) you really can't be sure of its birth date, its parents, or anything. You don't know how that animal was bred, anything about its parents, or its family history. I'm not saying don't buy from a petshop-those poor chins, its rescue if you do buy them in my opinion, but they are not for breeding! The only chinchillas that should be bred are the ones who come from a wonderful temperment family, great health, great fur (which is related to health), etc. just like any animal! Selective breeding is the only breeding that should be done.

Not really relevant, but another reason chins don't belong in petshops! Many people who buy from petshops do so in the spur of the moment. They see an animal, its cute, so they buy! Chins are complicated little creatures compared to many other pets. Research is soooo important before buying one because petshops don't offer the greatest info. If they want a spur of the moment buyer to buy a chin, they are probaably not going to tell them how long their lifespan is, the appropriate room temp, all the health issues that need to be watched for, the appropriate size cage, no plastic, etc. They make an animal sound as simple as possible so they have a better chance of selling an animal! Good chin breeders truly care about their chinchillas, the babies they sell, and the chinchilla population as a whole-not only the bottom line and their wallets.