A chocolate-coloured Labrador retriever nudges Ernie Olfert’s hip as a half-dozen cats swirl around a corridor at the Animal Resources Centre.
The animal laboratory veterinarian is director of the centre that is responsible for acquiring test animals for the University of Saskatchewan’s research laboratories.
While the use of cats and dogs for research purposes is declining, fish are becoming more common for lab work in cellular and tissue cultures.
“If you’re working on cells and can get them from fish, mice or dogs, you’d probably choose fish,” said Olfert.
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He said most of the cats and dogs milling around the centre will be used as test patients by young veterinary students, who will check the animals’ vital signs or perhaps draw blood.
Some end up in private homes, he said, noting one of his two house cats comes from here.
Among test animals, rodents like mice and rats remain the most popular for research today. A host of farm animals including poultry, swine and cattle are also studied on the Saskatoon campus.
Fish are good monitors of the environment so they are especially useful in assessments of health and pollutants, said Olfert.
Establishing guidelines for the use and care of fish in research is the next challenge for Olfert and others who volunteer with the Canadian Council on Animal Care, which creates the standards of care for laboratory animals.
It was that work combined with his years of university service, volunteer work with the Saskatchewan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and work with professional organizations that contributed to his receiving the veterinarian of the year award for 2005.
Each year, the Saskatchewan Veterinary Medical Association recognizes someone who demonstrates service to the association, the profession and the public.
Co-worker and veterinarian Colette Wheler, who nominated Olfert for the award, said he makes a big contribution to a small but important wing of veterinary medicine.
Animal lab vets are rare birds among the 8,000 vets in Canada, accounting for only one percent or about 90 positions.
“Our job is to ensure research is done in a humane and ethical way; we act as informed consent for the animals,” she said.
She praised Olfert’s dedication and strong work ethic.
He regularly collaborates with a team to create and update the CCAC’s Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals.
It is a compilation of specific guidelines for caging, caring, receiving and using animals in research. It details disease monitoring and control, and creates appropriate training for technicians.
In recent years, the work has looked at establishing the point at which an experiment should be stopped and an animal humanely euthanized.
It is these guidelines that Olfert must ensure are adhered to.
A keen interest in research initially drew him here, but the constant variety of the job and rapid developments in biomedical fields continue to intrigue him.
Olfert worked in a small animal practice in Calgary before returning to the campus where he was among the first students to study veterinary medicine. Vintage items in his office that range from a wooden swivel chair to a shoebox-sized telephone attest to his long service here.
Most furnishings have changed just as the attitudes and practices have shifted for animals in the laboratory, said Olfert.
“Before, the concern was keeping them clean and disease free, and their comfort was secondary,” he said.
“Now we focus more on how the animal feels about how they are housed.”
That means special attention is paid to accommodating their natural habits and needs.
There is also more effort made to avoid unnecessary suffering, he said.
The university once maintained its own breeding colonies, but now receives many test animals from companies that specialize in raising disease-free test subjects.
There has also been an increased emphasis on training staff. Skilled technicians manage the animals.
Anyone working with animals on campus must now take special training in institutional animal care and welfare.
