A menagerie of small animals – from snakes to chinchillas – are settling into their new home at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).
It has created a £350,000 animal care unit on its Craibstone Campus and officially opened the doors yesterday, ahead of World Animal Day today.
The facility enables students to work alongside a range of native and exotic species, with tenants at the care unit including lizards, ponies, ferrets, tortoises, birds and tropical fish.
Animal care is one of the most popular courses at SRUC and the new site allows for more hands on, practical experience.
Programme Team Leader, Heidi Douglas, said: “Our animal unit is something that’s new to the north.
“We did have a smaller unit across the road, but the new facility gives us far more space for our students and for our animals.
“We tend to have the species that students will be seeing in pet shops and in vets themselves, so they’re getting to work with a different range of exotic species.”
Reptiles in particular are becoming more popular as pets, so much so that the team has dedicated two entire rooms to the species.
Other rooms will house tropical fish, animal handling and a dog grooming facility.
There are outdoor enclosures for ferrets, birds, dogs and ponies.
Ms Douglas added: “There’s no better way of learning animal care than actually getting hands-on with the range of different species that we have.”
Students began their studies in September and are taking full advantage of the opportunities offered.
Megan Ewen, 21, is in her second year studying animal care and plans to be a veterinary nurse.
She said: “I didn’t really like reptiles when I started but I’m okay with them now.
“The new unit is so much better. It’s bigger and there’s more room. We’re not all banging into each other any more.
“The animals need a lot of attention and the additional space enables us to spend more time with them.”
Steph Sim, 17, is also in her second year of the course and would like to work with the SSPCA.
She said her favourite part was coming to the unit and having the “experience with all of the animals”.
The investment is part of SRUC’s vision of becoming a 21st-century rural enterprise university, with a strong regional footprint across the country.
