Retirement Sanctuary for Laboratory Animals
An Alternative







An
Alternative

For the Researcher
Your first step is easy. Contact us by email. Writing from your institutional address is a plus but not necessary. Please keep in mind that information is kept confidential and that goes both ways.

We will be glad to discuss with you housing status of your primates and the space available here at the sanctuary.

As our discussions progress we will tell you what is required regarding their health status at your facility and what we will need before acceptance.

A critical piece of information will be a behavioral dossier. This can be from veterinary technicians, husbandry, veterinarians and the actual researcher.  All pieces of information help us put together a picture of the individual and how we can best assist in their adjustments to retirement.

Our current primate veterinarians from many research facilities, will be glad to discuss candidacy for retirement. What is important to consider is their quality of life outside of a cage in an open environment.  Some adjust readily and some need more time.  A few primates may have SIB issues and we have seen a huge reduction or elimination of the behavior once they arrive. We are here to help you make the right decision for your retiree.  

RSLA will help you decide on travel arrangement.  Some prefer trucking them here and others prefer a plane ride. 
Many of our retirees land at Bergstrom Airport in Austin where we pick them up.  If you are in Texas, easier arrangements can be made.

Many researchers have come with their animals to see them released into their new environment and you are always welcome to do that.  We are also available for site visits at your convenience.  If that is not possible, we will direct you to researchers, with their permission of course, who have first hand knowledge of our facility.

Once you make this decision it gets interesting.  It is time consuming and requires a lot of paperwork. Legal agreements are available for you to see, modify and use to help the process along.  

When they arrive they will experience some new found freedom. Here, they have the ability to tell us "no." Whether it's shifting to the lock out or threatening us when we encroach on their space, they have the ability to do so, whereas before they were the ones told what to do. Due to this increase in power, we often see varying levels of shifts in behavior.

But RSLA guarantees you that once they arrive you will know every step you took was worth it.
Have a fundraiser!
Many institutions and individual researchers have fundraisers to help their animals retire.  It is a happy event when the focus is all about the retiree and making changes that will continue to benefit them.

T shirts and koozies can be sold and raffle items collected to help raise money.  Everyone has a blast!

One primate named Buck had a huge turnout and the artwork created for this event was outstanding.