By John McMahon
Arizona Daily Wildcat
A new UA laboratory equipped to perform animal autopsies from the size of a small chicken to a 1,500-pound bull was dedicated Friday by UA administrators and officials from the Department of Transportation.
The Arizona Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory was rebuilt by the Transportation Department when the land that the old building was located on was in the direct route of the widening of Interstate-10 at Miracle Mile.
"The name Miracle Mile never seemed more appropriate," said UA President Dr. Manuel Pacheco, who added that the university was "indebted to the unknown architect who in designing the widening of I-10 drew a line" right through the old building.
The new VDL, located a few hundred yards from the old facility, is over twice the size of the old building and analyzes the remains of animals suspected by veterinarians and farmers to have died of strange and possibly contagious diseases. It also assists in the instructional efforts of the UA Department of Veterinary Science and supports the work of several undergraduates each semester.
The lab receives animal remains from all over the state and analyzes them for viral or bacterial diseases, poisons, and nutritional disorders.
"Poisons are the most difficult (to diagnose)," said lab director Dr. Carlos Reggiardo, who explained that each poison has a "fingerprint" all its own.
The VDL also examines bodily remains for foreign animal diseases, which Reggiardo explained will be a larger part of their future operations, as the North American Free Trade Agreement encourages the transport of more foreign livestock and poultry over the border.
Jerry Hopkins, of the Arizona Department of Transportation, explained that the project represented only the second replacement structure ever constructed by the department, as they usually compensate the property owner instead.
Hopkins explained the process is called a "functional replacement," and "recognizes that traditional methodologies that evaluate a property's value do not always recognize (the true value) of the property."
As a land-grant university, the UA also must recognize a commitment to the community, and the VDL assists the university in its duties as such.
Dr. Jack E. Quick, a local veterinarian, said the VDL's reconstruction served as a "reiteration of the commitment to knowledge," and explained that the lab served a "unique niche that no other private lab (in Tucson) can respond to Ÿ from the field to the microscope."
The new laboratory's examination machinery also uses more modern equipment to eliminate the odor of dead animals from the laboratory.
The smells were dangerous to employees and were causing the old laboratory to reek more and more horribly every year, Reggiardo said.
In the new building, smells have disappeared and the lab is also insulated from the sounds of the nearby highway, officials said.