Whack-A-Mole

I think it's the other way around tbh lol

In the 1950's, there were chinchilla ranches in most of the developed world except Asia and Australia. The US alone had several thousand breeders by the mid 50's and it seemed like everybody had a couple of breeding pairs in their garage with the promise of easy money. Ranchers continued to innovate with buildings, cages and equipment and management systems to suit local climates.

By the middle 1960's, thousands of ranchers throughout the United States and Canada were raising them. As their numbers grew they were finally offered as pets. One magazine offered pet Chinchillas for $100.00 a piece. The ad described them as "little fur ball-quiet, odorless, and vermin free". D uring this period, the quality of the animals was continuously improving. Pair mating dominated breeding until the fifties. With polygamous mating following, superior sires were chosen to improve breeding. More attention was paid to commercial scale pelt production.

It seemed like verybody had chinchillas in their garage as they were toted as quick, easy money and shows were massive and suit and tie affairs. By the 70's there were estimated to be over a million animals in the united states. Below is an article taken from a California Newspaper highlighting the explosion and shady underside of the booming chinchilla industry.