Chinchillas started out as little animals that clothing manufactures used to make furs. They became a hunted animal at the end of the 19th century. It wasn’t until 1918 that Mathias Chapman caught a Chinchilla and kept is as a pet. He actually thought of a whole concept in capturing these animals and then selling them as pets. Chapman was form the United States and worked in Chile so he had to get permission to capture and transport these animals to the United States. The Chinchilla was almost extinct at that point so the government was very hesitant to let someone catch them to be used a fur. But Chapman eventually won the right to catch them.

He began a Chinchilla farm so he could breed these pets. But out of the 11 wild Chinchillas he captured only 3 were female so the process was a bit slow. It wasn’t until the 60’s that Chinchillas really took off as pets. Chinchillas are still used a main part of the fur industry.

Chinchilla is so popular because they have a very soft fur. One of the greatest supporters for Chinchillas as pets would be PETA, The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. They want to protect all animals from being kept for the purpose of killing them for their fur. They have no objections as pets as far as Chinchillas go. But the Chinchilla farms are very bad living conditions for these animals and they are not being euthanized humanely.

More and more people today have Chinchillas as pets and they need good homes. The domestic Chinchillas can have a great domestic life as a pet, if you learn how to care for them properly and pay attention to them and keep them fed and in clean and suitable living conditions.