Funds made available from this award will be utilized to make the best use of space by incorporating isolation technology and labor saving equipment. These proposed improvements will allow for a measure of flexibility and efficiency that will provide a higher level of animal care and isolation. Specifically, there is an immediate and growing need for more specialized dog accommodations. The College is also experiencing an increasing need for housing a variety of rodent species in special environments to accommodate newly funded research. Isolating these species and projects within the limited space must be facilitated. The addition of another animal room plus alterations of two other rooms are necessary to accommodate the increase in research projects and in numbers and variety of laboratory animals. The incorporation of isolator-type caging will make more efficient use of existing and new animal rooms. The new equipment, other than isolator-type cages, would improve cleaning methods, and reduce the risk of cross contamination when cages are changed.
