What's wrong with chinchillas? Discriminated against while cats, dogs and ferrets get away with it.

Since last year, as proud Labrador parents, we have planned more and more holidays in England. Many parts of the UK are beautiful and make fantastic holiday locations but the British weather does little for a vitamin D boost.
Our destinations are therefore looking once more to Europe. Europe has always held a fascination for me. Alighting from the Eurostar in Paris or Brussels has always left me staring dumbstruck at the destination board. To get on a train in London or Kent, get off in a foreign country, change trains at another platform before travelling to yet another country, enchants me. Bit sad, I know. It must be the island mentality.
The end result of being tempted by foreign lands once more, meant that our thoughts fell to taking the dog with us. It appeared quite simple. All we had to do was get him a passport. He's already been chipped so I looked it up on the internet.
The results surprised me. It is indeed possible to obtain a passport for a cat, dog or a ferret.
The demand for passports for cats and dogs is something I can fully grasp. People get very attached to their pets. Dogs are supposedly man's best friend and I totally understand the companionship of a cat. I don't fully get people who take their ferrets overseas with them. Admittedly, I've never owned a ferret. They make superb pets, so I've been told with intelligence equal to that of a cat or dog. Just what do Border Control have against chinchillas, hamsters and gerbils? Are they of no importance or is it simply too difficult to stop their toothy grins at the photo kiosk, rendering the use of automated passport gates obsolete for facial recognition?