Lucy and Lou made their first appearance at Olds College last week.They are a lifelike cow and calf simulator, created by Veterinary Simulator Industries and the University of Calgary, and donated to Olds College by UFA.ìThe students and faculty are very excited. This is very new,î said Tanya McDonald, dean of the school of agriculture at Olds College.ìThere is an enhanced use of models and simulators as teaching tools but this is the first time that we have been exposed to such a lifelike model on the cattle side.îBy using a simulator instead of a real cow, second-year students in the agricultural management program will now be able to practise the calving process multiple times without risk of harming a cow.ìThis simulator was designed specifically for the birthing process because it is such a hard thing to simulate in other ways,î said Ron Schinnour, vice-president of agribusiness at UFA and one of the facilitators of the donation, reportedly worth $36,000.ìThe simulator is very realistic. They used a lot of materials in order to make it a realistic experience for the students.îOnly two other bovine simulators were made, and they are both at the University of Calgary.One of the flanks of the simulator cow can be taken off, exposing the cow's uterus and other organs. The uterus can also be opened up, exposing the calf inside.ìWe will learn how to safely enter and turn up a calf. If you have problems, it is easy to figure that,î said Laurie Amon, Olds College student in agriculture management.ìIf the calf is backwards, you can figure out how to turn it around and pull it out.îUntil the college received the simulator, students had been practising on the college cattle herd.According to Schinnour, the developers have already come up with an equine simulator and are looking at other animals like sheep, cats and dogs for their next simulator projects.ìI think Olds College is very interested in the equine simulator for our equine program and the small animal simulators for our animal health technology program,î said McDonald.
