俄亥俄宠物繁殖商同意交出1100多只龙猫：约800只曾被藏匿多年，执照被永久吊销
美国司法部11月3日宣布，俄亥俄北区联邦地方法院11月2日批准了美国政府与 R & R Chinchilla Inc. 业主之间的一项同意令：该公司须交出其位于俄亥俄州 Jenera 的繁殖场内剩余的300多只龙猫（栗鼠）。此前，该公司已依据一份修改后的临时限制令，自愿向动物福利组织交出另外约800只龙猫。两批合计，涉案龙猫超过1100只。
司法部是在收到美国农业部（USDA）「动物处于严重危险」的转介后，于今年8月起诉 R & R Chinchilla 及其总裁 James F. Ritterspach，指控其在汉考克县的繁殖场内，多次未能遵守《动物福利法》（AWA）及其关于人道照护、处理与对待约1100只龙猫的法规与标准。该公司繁殖龙猫已有40多年；龙猫体型小、毛皮浓密柔软，体重一至两磅，通常被归为异宠。
诉状称，自2022年9月以来，USDA 对该繁殖场进行了18次检查，几乎每次都发现多项违规，过去四年共记录59项违规。今年8月5日，检查人员进入一栋此前未披露的建筑，发现数百只动物处于恶劣环境：有动物的眼睛肿胀、流脓到睁不开；数百个笼舍的地面覆盖着粪便；氨气浓度高到让检查人员咳嗽不止、不得不离开建筑；装有老鼠药的开封包装就放在龙猫笼舍旁边；还有一只动物的金属项圈深深嵌进脖子。检查人员还在场内发现多只死亡动物。USDA 动植物卫生检查局（APHIS）动物照护项目副局长 Bernadette Juarez 说，检查人员记录了「深感不安的状况」，其中包括「在一栋被隐瞒多年、未接受检查的第二栋建筑里藏匿约800只龙猫」；USDA 曾在2024年发出正式警告、两次紧急暂停该场执照，并与司法部共同推进此案。
司法部能源与自然资源司（ENRD）首席副助理司法部长 Adam Gustafson 说：「持有联邦执照的动物繁殖者与照护者有义务遵守国会制定的基本标准，为动物提供清洁的水、充足的食物与住所，以及充分的兽医照护。」俄亥俄北区联邦检察官 David M. Toepfer 说：「持有联邦执照的宠物繁殖者必须遵守《动物福利法》。动物不能被虐待、关在脏笼子里、被忽视到受苦或死亡。」
诉状还指，Ritterspach 曾向检查人员谎称场内只有300至450只动物，实际多年来另在一栋建筑里藏匿约800只以躲避检查；检查人员称该建筑的状况是他们检查过的所有设施中最差的。诉状另指，Ritterspach 曾抓着一只龙猫的尾巴，从其身上撕下一块约4乘6英寸的毛垫。Gustafson 还表示，本案和解已使涉案全部动物得到安全转移。
诉讼进程方面，ENRD 与俄亥俄北区联邦检察官办公室于8月20日申请临时限制令与初步禁令，法院8月21日批准临时限制令，其后又颁布双方商定的修改令，要求 R & R Chinchilla 与 Ritterspach 与美国政府合作交出场内约800只动物。按最新同意令条款，Ritterspach 同意放弃剩余龙猫，并永久停止一切受《动物福利法》规管的活动；他另与 USDA 达成一份同意令与命令，其《动物福利法》执照被永久吊销。本案案号为 3:26-cv-01990。
（来源：美国司法部）
Ohio Pet Breeder Agrees to Surrender Over 1,100 Chinchillas: About 800 Were Concealed for Years, License Permanently Revoked
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on November 2 endorsed a consent decree entered between the United States and the owner of R & R Chinchilla Inc. to surrender over 300 remaining chinchillas at a breeding facility in Jenera, Ohio, the Justice Department announced on November 3. The court order follows R & R Chinchilla's voluntary surrender of roughly 800 additional chinchillas to animal welfare organizations pursuant to a modified temporary restraining order. In total, more than 1,100 chinchillas are involved.
After receiving a referral from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that animals were in serious danger, the Justice Department in August filed a complaint against R & R Chinchilla and its president, James F. Ritterspach. The complaint alleged failures on multiple occasions to comply with the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and its regulations and standards for the humane care, handling, and treatment of around 1,100 chinchillas at the company's Hancock County facility. R & R Chinchilla has bred chinchillas for over 40 years. Chinchillas are small animals with dense, soft fur, weighing one to two pounds, and are typically categorized as exotic pets.
According to the complaint, since September 2022 the USDA conducted 18 inspections of the facility, and in nearly every inspection multiple violations of the AWA were identified, with 59 violations occurring within the past four years. On August 5, USDA inspectors gained access to a previously undisclosed building and found hundreds of animals in dire conditions: animals with eyes so swollen and oozing with discharge that they could not open them; fecal material covering the entire floor of hundreds of enclosures; ammonia levels so high they caused inspectors to cough to the point of having to leave the building; open packets of rat poison kept right next to enclosures housing chinchillas; and a metal collar becoming tightly embedded in the neck of an animal. Inspectors also observed multiple dead animals in the facility. Deputy Administrator Bernadette Juarez of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Animal Care program said inspectors documented deeply troubling conditions, including "the concealment of approximately 800 additional chinchillas in a second structure that had been withheld from inspection for years," and that USDA had issued an official warning in 2024 and taken multiple enforcement actions, including two summary suspensions, before advancing the case with the Justice Department.
"Animal breeders and caretakers that are federally licensed have an obligation to comply with basic standards Congress established to provide clean water, adequate food and housing, and sufficient veterinary care to their animals," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department's Energy and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio said: "Federally licensed pet breeders must adhere to the Animal Welfare Act. Animals cannot be abused, kept in dirty cages, and neglected so badly that they suffer or die."
The complaint also alleged that Ritterspach had lied to inspectors, claiming the facility held only 300 to 450 animals while in fact hiding about 800 more in a separate building for years to evade inspection; inspectors described conditions in that building as the worst they had seen at any facility they had inspected. The complaint further alleged that Ritterspach once grabbed a chinchilla by the tail and tore off a mat of fur roughly 4 by 6 inches. Gustafson added that the settlement had resulted in all of the animals involved being safely transferred.
ENRD and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio filed a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction motion on August 20. The court granted the temporary restraining order on August 21 and later issued a modified order agreed to by the parties, which required R & R Chinchilla and Ritterspach to work with the United States to surrender approximately 800 of the animals at the facility. Under the terms of the consent decree, Ritterspach agreed to relinquish the remaining chinchillas and permanently cease any further AWA-regulated activity. Ritterspach also entered into a consent decree and order with USDA that permanently revokes his AWA license. The case number is 3:26-cv-01990.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
来源：美国司法部
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：一只长尾龙猫（资料图）。Emőke Dénes 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: A long-tailed chinchilla (file photo). Photo by Emőke Dénes, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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