Home .Site Updates About, Achievement Reports FAQ's Disclaimer, Copyright, Contact Pet Chin Rescue & Rehoming ..International Chinchilla Rescue Network (ICRN) Quotes For Compassion Saving Ranch Chinchillas ..Pet Homes For Ranchies: News, Information, Photos Make A Difference ..Change by Choice Show You Care, Donate ChinCare: Educating Chinparents MM promotes positive activism, not AR extremism, see: Correcting Misconceptions and Defining Terms PHFR NEWS, INFORMATION, PHOTOS PHFR is the ranch chinchilla outreach program of MM. CbC details the facts of pelting today, FAQ's explains what PHFR is, how it works and why it succeeds. Anyone interested in starting their own PHFR project is welcome to notify us. Support PHFR by donating or posting the above logo with a link to this page. 2008 PET HOMES FOR RANCHIES: PART 1, PART 2 The 2008 PHFR Project had to be split into two parts (a total of 35 chins are set to be saved this year) due to lack of available rescue support for fostering and rehoming ranchies after their initial adjustment period. 2008 was a crisis year for animal rescue in the U.S. Midwest, due to economic and natural disasters that caused people to lose their homes and pets to be turned in to rescue in record numbers. Chinchilla rescues have filled up, adoptions are down and many chinchilla rescues across the country in general have closed for good this year. 2008 PHFR, Part 1 began in July and ended in August, Part 2 is in the beginning planning stages as of late September. 2008 PET HOMES FOR RANCHIES PROJECT, PART 1 SYNOPSIS (report and photos) This report on the 2008 PHFR Project is being written as progress unfolds... On 7/12/08 we picked up 20 ranchies, 15 girls and 5 boys, some mutation colors but mostly standard gray. For the 2008 Project we're continuing our collaboration with the ranch that we've worked with that hasn't had to pelt since 2004. As stated elsewhere in this site, the remaining U.S. chinchilla ranches today breed to sell their animals live as pets or breeding stock because high production costs and low pelt prices have made pelting unprofitable in the U.S. since the mid 1990's. MM makes it possible for ranchers not to pelt their "at-risk" chinchillas, the ones that the pet brokers don't want because of certain imperfections, who would be killed and pelted at a pittance if we didn't intervene. Incidentally, our intervention doesn't drive production at the ranch, the pet market (think pet stores) does. MM wants to show that the pet community has a heart, that we will not allow these chins to die who deserve to live. This Project in particular has demonstrated to us the endurance and beauty of the chinchilla spirit. Our rescue has been full for years with chins that can't be rehomed due to health or behavioral issues, so we only keep the ranchies for their adjustment period and then we rely on rescue support for long-term fostering and rehoming. We'd like to extend a special thanks to the wonderful volunteers on the Midwest Exotics forum, who have offered to help us once these chins are ready to move on to forever pet homes. 2008 PHFR PROJECT, PART 1: REPORT AND PHOTOS *photos in bold type* (first week, second and third weeks, fourth week) The First Week, 7/12- 7/20 This report will be written by S. B., although my husband and I work very closely and we share every aspect of the work as PHFR project leaders, I do site editing and it will be easier for me to write about this particular project from the first person perspective. Firstly, I'm happy to say that it appears that the ranchers have scaled back on their breeding program, which is wise considering that pets in our state are currently being dumped at shelters in droves, many more abandoned in their deserted, foreclosed-on homes as our state's economy flounders. Two chins caught my eye right away as we were loading them into carriers on the ranch, one of them was a biter, whom I jokingly referred to as "Fang" because he was such a tough little guy. It was only later on the ride home that we realized that this poor little man had a stump for a right hind leg, and it hadn't developed a good callous yet and was bleeding a bit on the end, hence the biting; Fang was hurt and he was afraid we meant to hurt him. I held him for part of the ride home, unfortunately the pictures taken in the car came out too dark for some reason, and I took turns holding and comforting a couple others who were very frightened at the sudden change in their situation; they were making the distress call. Once home, we began our usual routine, cleaning up the chins by wiping them down with sanitizing wipes and then giving them ample dustbath, and it was then while my husband was holding Fang that his other, left hind leg, snapped between the knee and ankle. We were dumbfounded, shocked, as he'd only wiggled a little and not done anything that either of us could see that could cause this to happen, and we wondered if there wasn't some kind of congenital bone problem that might explain why his other leg had been severed in approximately the same place. Poor Fang! This was certainly an anomaly in all our years of handling chins. During Fang's amputation surgery our vet said that although the bone had flaked rather easily as she was rounding it off, it didn't look like there was a condition per se and she didn't expect him to be prone to more breaks in the future, thank goodness. But what is amazing is how, as soon as little Fang realized we didn't mean to hurt him, after that first day in fact, he never tried to bite again. I have kissed his little face all over and he's never been inclined to so much as gruff, and he positively LOVES attention, he holds still and smiles for as long as I want to kiss on him, enjoying every minute. He even let me and the vet give him chin scratches! It just goes to show what truly intelligent, perceptive and forgiving creatures they really are. And of course I'm massaging dustbath into his fur until he's able to roll again someday, his surgery was on Tuesday and as I'm writing this on Sunday night he's healing wonderfully. He learned his name within the first few days, scampers about like a champ despite having two hind stumps, takes his medicine like a good sport and is completely enthralled with TV as he watches from within the folds of his "inner sanctum;" chins love the soothing comfort of cloth (no strings, fringe or loose weave) when recuperating: Fang 1, Fang 2, being cute as I try to get some good pics, normally he's very relaxed as he watches TV, tonight he's totally into TCM's "Silent Sunday" program. Fang's stump and leg break before amputation (we have painkillers on hand, so he didn't have to endure any suffering), and after. The other chin I noticed as she was handed to me at the ranch was a big beige sweetheart that I've called Plum. We don't always name chins during their adjustment period with us, when we do it's usually just for reference purposes and we try not to use the name around them too much because it will probably be replaced with something better when they go to their forever home. But Fang and Plum will be under our observation for awhile, so we let them learn their names and Plum recognized hers almost immediately. What's rather surprising about that is, Plum has Micro ophthalmia (literally, "small eye"), her right eye is normal but her left eye is small and sunken in flat with her skull, not protruding at all, and the eyelids for that eye are also small but we have noticed that she does try to open that eye so it may not be entirely useless. Plum went to the vet's with Fang, to be examined and x-rayed, and although her x-rays were perfectly normal the vet believes, as we do, that Plum probably has permanent neurological damage associated with her condition. She does have serious navigational problems, she likes to stick her head in corners, almost as if she's constantly dizzy, and when excited or confused she starts running in circles. She does love the company of other chins and is presently with some of the older ladies in this bunch, retired breeding females that dote on and protect her: Plum 1, Plum 2, Plum 3 Our vet gave MM a discount on these vet visits, besides being one of the best chinchilla vets in the world (just our humble opinion after seeing her in action for eight years), Dr. Glikis-Scott is also a wonderful person who truly cares for animals and fully supports our PHFR projects. Just to rule out the possibility of infection or inflammation, she gave Plum some medications for us to administer over the next couple weeks, to see if that will have an impact on her at all, but so far it hasn't and this may just be the way she is. It certainly must require a lot of faith for animals to put their lives, their complete trust, in total strangers. To put aside their inherent fear of man, to forgive and to believe and to perservere regardless of their powerlessness. I really can't imagine... Whenever one of these ranchies comes to life after being related to, given exercise and a larger cage to spread out in and they wink at me with that wise, appreciative look in their eye, I'm just in awe. Chinchillas truly are amazing creatures. My husband and I do these PHFR projects for one reason only, because we love chins and believe in their intrinsic value; we're just doing our duty, our part to uphold that belief. This group has settled in quite quickly. One nervous fur biter, with both sides shaved, who was frequently making the distress call, summoned up his courage and was actually exploring our chin-proofed living room, beyond the kitchen we start them in on their first day: Fuzzbutt's first day- 1, 2, 3. Chief, another male, has no tail, but here he is making the most of playtime anyway! On his second day Fizzbin took the initiative and jumped from the couch to explore the living room, and this is quite a feat considering that ranchies don't get any real jumping practice in their battery cages. The four boys (excluding Fang) started out as pairs, here's Charlie and Chief, then we put them together in a large cage and they're doing quite well: 1, 2 Here are a few photos of us cuddling the ranchies, I sometimes hold them in front of the mirror when I do it so they can see what I'm up to, so they know that there's no cause for concern and that I'm just snuggling them: holding 1, 2. On their second day with us, since several were shedding, we gave them a good brushing. Sunshine, who is Plum's best friend now, is shown relaxing in her dustbath box at playtime. She was born in 2008, most of this bunch is young and either fur bitten or missing an ear or part of a tail, but being with other chins her age made her very nervous, she was continually snapping at them and us. Now that she's under the wing of the older retired breeding females, she's mellowed out to the point where, when I offered her a raisin the other day, she preferred to snuggle my hand and climb up onto my arm. I always feel for the ex-breeding females, the ones that apparently resisted the male's advances and suffered bitten, torn ears as the male mounted them anyway and forced them into submission. This gal's ears are an example: 1, 2. These ladies are always so kind to the other chins, so mothering, and watching them come to life as pet chins is especially spectacular, it's like they see a ray of hope, for freedom and fun, for the first time in their lives: happy gals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and at play 1, 2 This past week was a doozy, between helping the ranchies settle in, running to the vet's, our usual busy personal schedule and then one of our air conditioning units malfunctioning and having to be replaced. But I look at all these little faces, at how stoic and happy they are, living in the present, making the most of what they've got and not worrying about what's around the next corner, and I realize, there's so much we can learn from chinchillas. The Second and Third Weeks, 7/21- 8/3 Thanks to A. Cosenzo for the kind mention on her blog, and to Barbara for the notice in her Cheeky Chinchillas' newsletter; Barbara is a true friend to chinchillas, she tirelessly gathers support for many chinchilla-benefitting causes. It's amazes me that the second and third weeks have already passed, they just flew by. When we have ranchies at our rescue it nearly doubles the number of chins we have to care for (right now, we have 58!) and along with socializing them, caring for any with special needs or problems, plus photographing and documenting the process (we take literally hundreds of pictures that must be sorted and sized, then forming the report, it's typically a 10-12 hours process) and coordinating our rescue support so the ranchies can be placed after their adjustment period, well, it really keeps us hopping for the entire time they're here; I usually pull at least a few 24 hour days. Weeks two and three were a transition period for the females. The four boys (excluding Fang, who has been in his own small cage) have been together in what is for them a large cage since the first week (boys recline 1, 2, cute Charlie 1, 2 and chowing 1, 2 and running on their wheel), and during cage cleaning they really sulked (note the frown) at being stuck in a small cage while theirs was being cleaned. You'd think their taste of freedom would make them really go wild at playtime, but they can be pretty mellow and reserved, at least when under the eye of the camera: boys at play 1, 2, 3. So, in weeks two and three the girls transitioned from being in a large carrier and two small cages to being in one "enormous" cage, together. Because ranchies are housed separately on the ranch and these girls had very little social experience with other chins prior to coming to us, official "introductions" weren't necessary. The girls want to congregate and they are consoled and encouraged by each other's company, I believe this is a great way to give them community support while they learn how to cope with all the challenges of a large cage- ramps, levels, shelves and of course the classic and Saucer wheels. Before being housed as one large group, we had the girls out for playtime sessions together so they could all get better acquainted: girls at play 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Sunshine was too cute as she cuddled the pillow: 1, 2, 3. I just love how precious these ranchies are when they realize that someone's taking an interest in them. They put their face, their nose and mouth, up to you when you lean down to kiss them on the forehead as if to say, "hey, you seem like a nice human, I'm going to try to talk to you because you must speak chinchilla." You can see Plum at play in some of those photos and it's interesting to watch how she moves and has adapted to compensate for her handicap. She often cocks her head, favoring her good eye, or lowers her head and raises her ears to get a better perceptual grasp of the situation. During playtime she checks out the rooms we have closed, and she has no fears when exploring, she runs about and investigates whereas some of the older ex-breeding females are much more wary and inclined to sit on the sidelines. When at rest Plum favors a secure position like sitting in a house or resting in a corner, as shown here with a friend watching over her: Plum 1, 2. Here are the girls on the second week, before moving into their large cage: second week girls 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. And yes, when they were in smaller groups they would really eat that much hay, overnight! For the first couple weeks after their initial arrival, to help facilitate their adjustment, we gave all the ranchies a new appetite stimulating herb mix daily and they were eating nearly twice the amount of pellets and hay that the rest of our chins eat. During the second week the girls were getting very relaxed and friendly, checking out my husband at the cage door, nibbling on his beard, and sitting in a row at the front, watching TV. Photos taken after moving to the large cage: third week girls 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and sound asleep. At first the girls were a bit apprehensive about this big change, but then they seemed to decide it was all for the best and settled into their routine to the point where now they don't mind at all me going in every day to change the pillowcases under their houses and hay, they even loiter about and make it a bit more of a chore for me, lol. We were especially concerned with how Plum would manage, and she did have some difficulty with ramps and levels at first even though she'd already mastered jumping up onto a hideaway house in her previous arrangement. My husband tried to show her the ramp, he's good at that and chins usually catch on shortly after, and it does seem that Plum is slowly mastering the ramps and levels, but at first it was eaiser for her to go down rather than up the ramp. So, to help ensure that she could get back to the pellet dish after eating hay in the evening, I would pick her up the next morning and just put her on the top level, right in front of the food bowl. As the third week wore on I think she was getting up there sometimes by herself, because she wasn't always ready to chow as before. When I first started this, she was irritated and gave me her most "ferocious" gruff, and I could feel her chest rumble even when she wasn't making noise, much like a cat purring, but by the end of the third week she had caught on to my intentions and she let me pick her up without the slightest ado. Also by the end of the third week, she was getting quite agile on the Saucer wheel, if you can believe that! The medication Plum was taking as a precautionary measure proved to make no difference, so apparently she does have permanent neurological problems associated with her Micro ophthalmia. My husband (who always administers medications and trains the chins from the start to come forward and take it) said it was kind of hilarious when she first started taking her medicine, her little head would pop up from behind the house or from a "chin pile" (chins wrapped over or around each other) and she'd keep moving, sometimes in circles, periodically checking her relative position to the syringe with her good eye, until she'd reached it. In the middle of the third week our wonderful petsitter, Amy, stopped by with her mother to cuddle the ranchies, and they just LOVED it. Amy has a superior chin scratching technique that make chins melt in ecstasy, one of these days I've just got to capture that on video. Her mother, Janet, offered some raisins to the ranchies and our chinfamily as well, you can bet she'll be welcomed back anytime! I do feel for the ex-breeding females, though, they eat with their face in the pellet dish and need their treats held for them until they rediscover their forepaws that were for years unavailable to them while they wore the breeding collar. And now.. the FANG update! This little man is totally unreal, you'd never know that he'd ever been on a ranch, that he was ever unsocialized because he is absolutely cuddly-lovey pet material. Exactly a week after his amputation surgery, because he was beginning to move about a lot inside his cushy cage, we let him out on the couch: Fang 1, 2 and he's been out frequently since, like in this photo session where he shows off shamelessly for the camera: Fang romp 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. What a guy! Here he is peeking out from his cage to watch TV: Fang peeks, closeup. While out on the couch he runs nonstop or explores the folds of the sheet we use to cover our downstairs couch so we can change it frequently, that keeps dust levels minimal. Fang also tries to jump, and he's got no inhibitions about jumping off the couch if only those obnoxious human goalies would let him. He can even be difficult to catch, lots of young chinnie energy there, that's for sure, and he has jumped out of his cage a couple times when I turned away for a moment. Fang's left leg has healed perfectly, the fur has grown back already and he'll be returning to the vet's to get his stitches out. The only downside is, that he's going to need another operation, this time to fix his right leg because whatever happened to him before we got him resulted in that leg not healing properly and it does bleed easily and hasn't formed a callous on the end like it should. Our vet wrapped some muscle around the left leg when she operated on that and when she does this to the right, it'll make life much easier for him, he'll no longer have this long, thin bone precariously sticking out. He'll have only stumps for back legs, but they'll get calloused and his forearms are very strong... I know that from the way he struggles when he wants down on the couch to run! Fourth Week, 8/4- 8/9 The fourth week just flew by, with Fang moving up to a larger carrier (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and Plum getting more familiar with the ramps and finding her way to the top of the cage all by herself, among other general adjustment improvements. Here are some final photos of the girl's group: resting, dusting, Plum dancing during dusting time, gals resting on a shelf, a contented face in a hammock and everyone chowing after getting herb mix added to their food bowl 1, 2, 3, 4. Some final photos of the boy's group: 1, 2. Sorry boys, I would have taken more pictures if you weren't so camera shy, lol! Because of the wax in their ears, even inking the ranchie's birthdates with permanent marker didn't last long and we had to re-ink this group a total of four times, the last time just before we left to transport them to their fostering rescues on August 9. Thanks again to the two rescues in Indiana who gave support for this project: Jennifer at Jenny's Small & Exotic Animal Rescue & Sanctuary (photos taken at dropoff: 1, 2) and Kate at Midwest Exotics, we know you'll find these precious chins good pet homes! Here are a couple pictures of our loaded van 1, 2, which besides holding chins was stocked with many other supplies that my husband and I donated personally to help give these ranchies a good head start. Fang and Plum were held back and will be staying with us for awhile. Fang had his second leg operation on August 15th, and came through that just fine even though the vet needed to take the amputation up higher than with the other leg, up to mid-thigh just to get to the point where she had muscle to work with and it wasn't all skin and bone. Here's a photo of him post-surgery a week later and at playtime some weeks after that: Fang 1, 2, 3, 4. The background of packing boxes is not typical of our chins' play area, it's just a temporary inconvenience. A few weeks after this ranchie project, we initiated a project to help a Midwest rescue with their overflow. After travelling hundreds of miles in one direction to pick up the 23 rescues (here is one that I especially bonded with, "Biscuit," she and her friend Honey were so incredibly precious!) we travelled hundreds more a week later in the opposite direction, down to Indianapolis, Indiana on September 13th to distribute the chins to rescue workers who will rehome them in Missouri and Tennessee. The second half of the 2008 PHFR project is in the planning stages and we may get rescue support help from some of the wonderful people we met while conducting this rescue operation. Chinnie cheers! 2008 PET HOMES FOR RANCHIES PROJECT, PART 2 *photos in bold type* We travelled all day long on November 8th, picking up 20 ranchies in the morning, 6 rescues in the afternoon (we brought three from our rescue, so there were 9 altogether), and then distributing all 29 chins directly to two rescues from the South by dinnertime. Here are some pictures taken of our vehicle loaded up and during transport: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and of the chins after being loaded into one of the rescuer's vehicles: 1, 2, and once the chins were settled in and photographed at rescue: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. We'd like to thank Mya of Second Chance Chins for the nice chew sticks that the rescues and ranchies enjoyed en route, along with the hay blocks we provided. Having something to chew really helps relieve stress during travelling. Thanks also to Jim Conklin who works at Ford Motor Company, who gave us the use of his car, an Edge, for both 2008 projects.