Sometimes they didn't die immediately, but researchers sliced them open anyway, regardless of the fact that they were clearly still alive. Once several mice escaped and hid behind the rows of cages. We couldn't get them out and they ended up having a litter of babies. He pulled the cages away and proceeded to step and the mice and squash them with a broom. Then I had to help clean the remains.
P erhaps the most gripping part of working in the lag was seeing what happened to the cats and dogs.
The dogs were lucky, they weren't going to be killed for several years. A doctor had implanted a heart valve in them and he was seeing how it affected them. These dogs had been purchased from shelters and dealers. They knew how to sit and heel and we obviously trained. T he cats were purchased from a local Amish farm, which bred cats and kittens.