Research (also) crawls forward at Campus Terra
At Campus Terra, some of us walk, others crawl. Before you jump to any conclusions, let us explain!
Human footprints are not the only kind you will find on the USC Lugo Campus, as animals also walk around at the Animalario. In this facility, experiments are carried out on small animals, such as rodents and rabbits (all procedures comply with the existing animal welfare regulations).
The main mission of these facilities is to allow individuals and professionals alike to complete the practical training required by the Galician authorities to work in the field. The launching of this training programme, developed from 2019 to 2021, has given more visibility to the work of the Animalario in the field of animal experimentation.
Since last year, almost 50 people from Galicia and Spain have chosen this centre to carry out their practical work. On the other hand, 150 students took the theoretical modules of this training programme in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the USC, while the experimentation training with medium and large animals was done at Cebiovet.
The entire programme is tutored and supervised by a specialised technical team that imparts three types of training: animal care (A), euthanasia (B) and the performance of procedures (C). These vary in length and, depending on the specialisation, can range from 10 to 55 hours per course.
In addition to its role in professional training, the Animalario Lugo also collaborates with different companies and public institutions that need to carry out tests or procedures with rodents and lagomorphs (rabbits). But that is not it, as, apart from the conventional benefits of this service, the facilities also include a biomodule that allows researchers to experiment with isolated animals, as well as an area to work with specimens infected by level two pathogens.
Due to its high demand and level of activity, the Animalario in Lugo is no longer walking or crawling — it is flying high!