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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1979)
THE BATTALION THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1979 Page 7 ggieland has zoo—of research animals CHERYL CESSNA Battalion Reporter lioness, a wolf and a baboon ■HHmbcI ^ characters in a fairy ' Jft; pctually, all are Texas A&M Mtaait) «sidents” in one form or another. «r. rhe animals are being used in Search projects, said Jeff San- manager of Laboratory Animal sources. |^^mety-nine percent of the re- that goes on is with what we l the conventional laboratory — rats, mice, guinea pigs, ^^Bers, rabbits, as well as dogs l cats,” he said. ‘‘But there are specialty projects ere some other species is used. ;ht now the Department of Idlife and Fisheries has a group of -be. tring animals they’re using for ehavioral study,” he said. “Here 4 ‘We're the centralized animal re facility for Texas A&M, sic/i means that anyone on r* who's using animals in can come to us for pro- an d holding of those iS90Hmals, plus any type of ^'edalized technical assistance at s required on those pjects. We deal with any col- ;e on campus." Texas they are costing the oil njianies a fairly large amount of mey each year by chewing ough their seismic cables. So :y’re trying to find a better seis- fable these beasts won’t chew ough.” Sanford said there are other un- M1 animals at the facility. «$Bight now we re holding a Cana- m timber wolf. He’s used in an Koto by Sufificial insemination study. We ■have a young African lioness, ithing’s being done to her — BC kick 6 ^ re wa * t * n S until she reaches a.m. Sat rity before they begin any type project with her. “We’ve also got some primates,” ||aid. “Right now we’ve got six 1 businesi! s volume. 0 location s, from p; to cleanly ications ® id then a eport. lictors o; d to ma said. Th(| or stud} tiymousp iilly and} Universitj cynomolgus monkeys in a physiolog ical study. We’ve got 10 baboons being used in embryo transfer work and five cebus monkeys used as teaching animals to give the vet stu dents some hands-on experience. Wildlife and Fisheries also has some exotic turtles found around South America that they’re doing some chromosome studies on.” Sanford said finding appro priate housing for the exotic animals can be a test of creativ ity. Sanford said the program was even able to try to help a stork with frostbite. “We had a rare stork — there are only about half a dozen left in the entire world — owned by the San Antonio zoo. For some strange reason she developed frostbite on her wings and they brought her up here to run her through the hyper baric pressure chamber.” Unfortunately the stork died. Use of he fecilities is not limited to the vet school, Sanford said. “We re the centralized animal care facility for Texas A&M, which means that anyone on campus who’s using animals in research can come to us for procurement and holding of those animals, plus any type of specialized technical assistance that’s required on those projects. We deal with any college on cam pus.” “Our basic job is to insure that the animals are properly cared for while the project is ongoing, that they’re procured from some type of quality source and to insure that they get the basic day-to-day care that is required, not only by humane practices, but by govern ment regulations, that sort of thing,” he said. “As a research institution, we are governed by the United States De partment of Agriculture and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. HEW doesn’t have Rx PRESCRIPTION 3602 OLD COLLEGE ROAD (Across from the Chicken Qil Co. & Next lo Tri-Slate Sporting Goods) 846-1393 We carry the Finest in Automotive Stereo. If we don’t have what you’re looking for, we can usually get it. JENSEN fwe Also Carry.l SANYO Car Stereo Receivers and Series II Speakers ^Clarion Car Stereos and Equalizers . Maxell & TDK Blank Tapes . Pre-Recorded Tapes . Telephones (GTE) . Albums — 80c over our cost ALWAYS!! . 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And there are climate restric- All of the animals eat commercially-prepared foods, and that even the queen of be asts doesn’t rate special fare. “The lioness eats some stuff called Zu-Preem. It’s an exotic feline commercial diet.” tions, certain temperature ranges and that sort of thing. ” Sanford said all of the animals eat commercially-prepared foods, and that even the queen of beasts doesn’t rate special fare. “The lioness eats some stuff called Zu-Preem. It’s an exotic feline com mercial diet.” Sanford said the supervisors are ceritified by the American Associa tion of Laboratory Animal Scientists at the technologist level, the highest certification for people who work with laboratory animals. He said the workers must be aware of the danger inherent in working with wild animals. “Anytime you’re working with laboratory animals, or any animal, there’s a certain amount of care that has to be taken. Especially with animals you’re not familiar with. You would do things with your own house dog that you wouldn’t do with your neighbor’s dog, just because you don’t know the animal. We don’t know any of these animals, so we take extreme care. You have to know what these animals will do to you if they get the chance, and you have to respect them for that,” he said. Sanford said the conventional Sanford said the program was even able to help a stork with frostbite. “We had a rare stork — there are only about half a dozen left in the entire world — owned by the San Antonio zoo. For some strange reason she de veloped frostbite on her wings and they brought her up here to run her through the hyperbaric pressure chamber.” Unfortunately the stork died. laboratory animals are put to sleep when the research project they are being used in is finished. “The USD A has guidelines that regulate how the procedures are run and what happens to the animals after the procedures are over with. 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