How cute is this little fella? Today we took a field trip down to the Rat Room, where a bunch of rats used for experiments were kept. It smelled pretty good actually, considering they were rodents, and my boss Tracy laughed and said that these rats were probably cleaner than we were! Sad, yet true the place was so clean.
Anyways, we were in there to weigh several of the little guys for an experiment to take place within the few days. In fact, tomorrow surgeries are being performed where magnesium will be inserted into cut nerves! Too bad I have class, but I should be able to witness one on Friday.
It made me a little sad seeing all of these rats and knowing their fate. To me, they seemed so trusting and not fussy at all when being held to put on the scale and back in their cages. I even saw some mother rats with their little pink pups suckling in a few of the cages. Knowing that they were all going to be used in experiments did break my heart a little, but at least they are all being used for a good cause, and were all housed and sacrificed very humanely.
Speaking of rat sacrificing, I had one of my more unpleasant surprises thus far in the lab today. While I was defrosting one of the freezers and transferring stuff from one freezer to the other, I found a whole bag of dead rats! Yuck!!!! Goodness knows what those guys were doing in there, or what they were for.
Anyways, we were in there to weigh several of the little guys for an experiment to take place within the few days. In fact, tomorrow surgeries are being performed where magnesium will be inserted into cut nerves! Too bad I have class, but I should be able to witness one on Friday.
It made me a little sad seeing all of these rats and knowing their fate. To me, they seemed so trusting and not fussy at all when being held to put on the scale and back in their cages. I even saw some mother rats with their little pink pups suckling in a few of the cages. Knowing that they were all going to be used in experiments did break my heart a little, but at least they are all being used for a good cause, and were all housed and sacrificed very humanely.
Speaking of rat sacrificing, I had one of my more unpleasant surprises thus far in the lab today. While I was defrosting one of the freezers and transferring stuff from one freezer to the other, I found a whole bag of dead rats! Yuck!!!! Goodness knows what those guys were doing in there, or what they were for.