ABC Central Coast

Topic: Animals

Sunday, 21 June 2026, 7:35 am

Corky the rat lived in a research facility.

In short:

A new home for lab animals has opened on the NSW Central Coast.

The home can take care of up to 120 animals.

What's next?

The founder hopes more lab animals will have a life after research.

Paula Wallace has been helping lab animals for almost a decade.

She is happy to see her dream become a reality.

She thinks this is a big step for animal welfare in Australia.

The animals come from many different research places.

Paula Wallace and Nadia Capliss are part of the Liberty Foundation.

The centre can hold up to 120 small animals.

The building has special rooms for rats, rabbits, mice, and guinea pigs.

Over 100 animals are waiting for a home.

The animals had different experiences in the research facilities.

The team's job is to understand the animals' needs.

In NSW, we don't know how many small animals are put down after research.

But we think it's hundreds of thousands every year.

Rory the guinea pig is one of the animals waiting for a home.

Paula Wallace started taking in animals in 2017.

The team relies on donations to help the animals.

The NSW government helped pay for the centre to open.

The centre needs more money to keep running.

'Dogs of the rodent world'

Monika and Ignacio took in three rats and fell in love with them.

The rats are now part of their family.

The couple knew they wanted to adopt pets that needed a home.

They think it's great to give lab animals a second chance.

It makes them happy to know the animals will be loved.

Millions of animals are used for research in Australia.

People often love rats as pets because they are smart and friendly.

The Liberty Foundation has helped almost 1,000 animals.

Life after the lab

Gemma Field took in three rabbits that were used in research.

At first, the rabbits were shy, but they opened up with love.

The rabbits are happy and healthy now.

Gemma Field thinks people should know about animals in research.

It's our problem, and we should care about it.

In NSW, it's not required to find homes for research animals, but it's encouraged.

The centre has a special play area for the rats.

The manager hopes this centre will show others how to treat animals after research.

Sunday, 21 June 2026, 7:35 am

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