Frequently asked questions about animal research at UT:

What is the Animal Resources Center?
The ARC, 27th and Speedway, houses most of the animals used for research at the University of Texas at Austin. Nearly 100 researchers use the facility.

What animals are there?
The ARC houses 20,000 animals, most of which are rodents. The ARC also has five Lemurs and hundreds of rabbits, cats, hamsters, quail and chickens.

How is it funded?
Researchers pay to use the ARC with grant money. But this only makes up 65 percent of the ARC’s funding. The other 35 percent comes from UT funds.

How is it governed?
A committee approves all research proposals at the ARC. It is made of 1 member from each department on campus that tests on animals and 2 lay members. They look ONLY at the number of animals used, NOT scientific validity. In 25 years, the ARC has only rejected 4 proposals.

Why don’t students know about this?
Good question. Students don’t have direct access to the research proposals, the number of animals housed, funding information and meeting times. SACA found out this information through Texas Open Records Requests and a tour.

What research is currently taking place?
Five Lemurs are housed at the ARC so an anthropology class can observe them. They live in a concrete room with a ceiling painted to look like clouds and walls painted to look like trees. The Lemurs are an endangered species from Madagascar.
A recently approved experiment will attach "markers" to 13 infant primates in order to observe how their gait changes as they develop. Infant primates, like infant humans, suffer from being seperated from their mothers.
Another recently approved experiment will intentionally inflict brain damage in 400 rats to observe how their bodies "adapt to the injury."
Other experiments include alcohol and cocaine research on mice, and using rodents to find a "cure" for fetal alcohol syndrome (other than the obvious cure of not drinking during pregnancy).

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