6
University Daily Kansān
Closer Look
Tuesday. Oct. 8, 1985
Critter Sitters
Two staff members of the Animal Care Unit examine tumors in the ear of one the unit's beagles.
The identification tag on the foot of a starrow hawk is checked before the bird is released. The hawk was raised by the Animal Care Unit on its farm east of Lawrence because the hawk was without a mother
Unit gives health care to feathered and furry
By Jennifer Benjamin Of the Kansan staff
Brightly colored birds go through physical therapy for their injuries, white rats breed, injured raccoons peer out of their cages and noisy bobwhite quails flutter in their cages.
All this happens in Malott Hall.
A little door on the west side of
Malott will lead you into this animal kingdom.
Birds, raccoons and squirrels are some of the animals the program is working with now. In the past, the program has delivered pelicans, foxes, bobcats and gulls.
The building houses two separate programs: the Animal Care Unit and the Rolling Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation program.
"With your first raccoon or squirrel, you really get attached. But at the same time, it's rewarding to see a raccoon you've cured scurry away into the woods or to throw a bird and watch it spread its wings and fly away."
Kennedy said, "The goal of the program is to release these animals in the same area they are found.
The rehabilitation program, which started in 1979, cares for sick or injured animals and tries to return them to their natural environment.
Christy Kennedy, animal technician, prepares the daily meal for the wild "critters" that have been treated at the Animal Care Unit and prepared for release back into the wild.
The animals are brought to Malott by individuals as well as groups such as the KU and Lawrence police and the Kansas Fish and Game Commission.
Christy Kennedy, animal technician for the program, said last week that the program was unique because she actually worked with wild animals.
the program is careful not to make pets of the animals, she said.
Some animals that never can be released are used for educational programs, she said. For example, a red-tailed hawk, which cannot fly, is used in a program to educate children about wildlife.
James Bresnahan, University veterinarian, said that after an animal was cured, it was taken to a farm near DeSoto so it could be gradually exposed to the wilderness again.
"That's the last step before we turn it loose into the wild," he said.
Bresnahan, who also is director of the Animal Care Unit, said the unit cared for the animals used in the research departments at the University of Kansas.
The animals in the unit in Malott include quails, dogs, rabbits, snakes, turtles, frogs and pigeons.
Diane Mahanna, animal technician, said that when she first started working at the unit, it was difficult to keep up with her research for being taken away for research.
Over the years the National Institutes of Health became more involved with research and the proper care for animals, Meador said. This led to regulations for housing and care of animals used in research.
Barbara Meador, coordinator of animal resource programs, said that before the unit was established in 1976, faculty and students doing research in the field had their own animals under the supervision of the Animal Care Committee.
"We used to have a lot of ponies," she said. "The first time they took the ponies, I just about died."
"Contact with the animals makes this job special," she said. "I like knowing that we're giving them the best care that we can."
The employees of the Animal Care Unit work with the researchers to meet any special needs they may have regarding food or care for the animals.
Cindy Wheeler, animal caretaker, puts drops into a rabbit's ear to prevent infestation.
She said that recently the program had opened up another unit at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
The unit has surgery, laboratory,
necropsy and X-ray rooms to care for
animals in the rehabilitation program and the Animal Care Unit. Some of the animals, mainly mice and rats, also are kept in the Haworth addition.
She said that although it was hard not to become too attached to the animals in the care unit, she had to maintain a certain amount of distance.
"It's pretty tough if you have to be put to sleep," Meador said.
Although the area with the animals is not a zoo. Meador said, the staff would be happy to give tours to anyone interested.
Photos by Bryan Graves