Ohio Breeder to Surrender More Than 1,100 Chinchillas After Federal Welfare Case
An Ohio pet breeder will surrender more than 1,100 chinchillas and permanently stop federally regulated animal work after inspectors reported dead animals, untreated medical problems and filthy enclosures at its facility.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio approved a consent decree between the federal government and R & R Chinchilla Inc., requiring the transfer of more than 300 animals still at the company's breeding operation in Jenera. The agreement follows the breeder's earlier voluntary surrender of approximately 800 chinchillas to animal welfare organizations under a modified temporary restraining order, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
Company president James F. Ritterspach also agreed to cease all activity regulated under the Animal Welfare Act. A separate order with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) permanently revoked Ritterspach's federal license.
The Justice Department filed a civil complaint in August after a USDA referral warned that animals at the Hancock County facility were in serious danger. The company had bred chinchillas for more than 40 years.
U.S. Department of Justice
According to the complaint, USDA conducted 18 inspections beginning in September 2022 and identified 59 Animal Welfare Act violations over four years. Inspectors alleged that Ritterspach repeatedly told them the operation housed between 300 and 450 chinchillas while concealing approximately 800 more in a separate building that had been kept from inspection for years.
Inspectors entered that building Aug. 5 and described its condition as worse than any facility they had previously examined, according to the Justice Department. They reported finding multiple dead chinchillas and animals with swollen, discharge-covered eyes that could not open.
The complaint also alleged that feces covered the floors of hundreds of enclosures, while ammonia levels caused inspectors to cough so severely that they had to leave. Open packets of rat poison were allegedly stored beside animal cages, and one chinchilla had a metal collar embedded in its neck.
U.S. Department of Justice
Inspectors also reported seeing Ritterspach hold a chinchilla by its tail while ripping a four-by-six-inch mat of fur from the animal.
"Animals cannot be abused, kept in dirty cages, and neglected so badly that they suffer or die," U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio said.
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) previously issued an official warning in 2024 and imposed two summary suspensions before working with the Justice Department on the civil case.
"Over multiple inspections, APHIS inspectors documented deeply troubling conditions at this facility, including animals with untreated medical conditions, excessive fecal accumulation, and the concealment of approximately 800 additional chinchillas in a second structure that had been withheld from inspection for years," said Deputy Administrator Bernadette Juarez of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)'s Animal Care program. "USDA has a responsibility to ensure that licensed facilities meet the standards required under the Animal Welfare Act, and the conditions identified at this facility reflected a prolonged failure to provide basic animal care."
U.S. Department of Justice
The federal government sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on Aug. 20. The court granted the restraining order the following day and later modified it to require the breeder to cooperate in surrendering the approximately 800 chinchillas.
The latest decree authorizes the removal of the remaining animals and ends Ritterspach's federally licensed breeding operation.
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