So, this is going to be sort of like a two-part post (well, all together, but sort of two related subjects). I've had a few people lately mention different things that different chinchilla breeders / rescues do, that may be different from what we do, and so I wanted to talk about this briefly.
First, I had had many people tell me, they'll adopt a chinchilla from somewhere... whether it's a rescue or breeder or whatever, it really doesn't matter... and they later find out that the place they got it from knew something about it that was not disclosed. Relevant information that would be useful to know. For example, turns out, the chinchilla used to fur chew and now it doesn't...and this person was buying it as breeding stock. Or it just had a teeth filing, and is being passed off as completely healthy (when in reality, it will likely need filings for the remainder of its life... which is another blog post in itself). This hiding-of-info is something that I don't agree with -- while I may not have a lot of info on each animal here (especially the rescues that come from humane societies -- "adult beige female" -- end of info), I share the info that I do know about each critter, and I don't hide any info. I may even have more info than what's on the ads (nothing all that useful or relevant, but more info), and if someone wants to know more into the background of that specific animal, I may know more and may be able to share more. But I would never hide what I would consider relevant information. Full disclosure.
The second thing that has been brought up is meeting people versus letting people into your home. Some breeders will actually deliver. Me, if you read this blog, you know that I'm always behind on something (who wants to volunteer and help change this???), so delivery is rarely something that I have time for, but some people do have the time, and more power to them. Nothing against people who deliver, I'm just not usually one of them.
Other people meet, which I don't necessarily mean to be meeting, as in, partial delivery, but more of... meeting away from the home (as opposed to letting people into the home). Again, this is not necessarily a negative thing, as there are safety issues. I could have an axe murderer call me up, tell me they want to see the chinchillas as they're thinking about adopting, and they could walk right into my house. I acknowledge that. So, to avoid that, some breeders will not meet people at their home, but will rather, meet them elsewhere. For safety reasons, there is logic behind it. Not necessarily bad, but sometimes, the pet-owner perception of this is that the breeder has something to hide, as in... "why don't they want me to come to their place?" Honestly... even for backyard breeders, they usually have no clue they're doing anything wrong, so they will even usually show you their place... it's usually more of a safety issue than an I-want-to-hide-something-issue.
I had someone mention the other day how they felt like I was very open and they used the term "full disclosure" to explain how I let them in my basement and see all the chins and how they are housed and such. But see, that's the same exact thing... I'm not trying to hide anything. When you get here and see the setup, and see things you haven't run across before, ask about the collars (most do!), ask about the breeding runs, ask why some are in holding cages and some are in ferret nations.... I'm happy to explain, and I do. It's not hiding anything... but it can be a safety issue at the same time.
I suppose if I had something to "hide," it's not that I wouldn't let people in...rather, I'd FIX the problem!
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