Retired lab rats will be offered for adoption to Swiss homes
A leading Swiss research institution has signed an agreement to hand over retired lab rats for adoption to private individuals.
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) has signed a contract with animal welfare association Swiss Animal Protection (SAP) to make the handover of the animals official.
Under the terms of the contract, EPFL donates rats that it no longer needs and also takes charge of part of their maintenance during an initial phase of 30 days, according to a statement released by SAP on Monday. For its part, the SAP will be responsible for the acclimatisation of the animals and will work to find long-term guardians.
It is estimated that no more than a few individuals per month will enter the adoption programme initially. However, the numbers could increase if the scheme works well. The scheme could also be extended to other animals, such as mice or zebrafish, provided that they are not genetically modified animals, EPFL said.
Quick learners
Rats are very good at learning new tasks and are mainly used in behavioural experiments. In 2020, they accounted for 9.5% of the animals used in experiments in Switzerland, behind mice and birds. EPFL currently has some 350 rats in its labs.
A similar programme was launched in 2018 in partnership with the University of Zurich. It enabled some 300 rats that had not been genetically modified or used in stressful experiments to find new owners.
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