What do rats and mice look like on which experiments were performed in laboratories

Last summer, photographer Rachel Totaro was busy shooting unusual models. She took pictures of rats and mice. Nothing special, you say? But there is one small detail that makes these photo shoots very interesting: for the first time in their life, rodents found themselves outside the cage and went out into the open air. The fact is that the animals were experimental, lived in laboratories and were rescued by an Italian charity located near Milan.

Every year in Italy, hundreds of thousands of animals die in laboratories. Death experiments are carried out on some of them, but the majority survives, can easily recover and continue a normal life. Italian law allows experimental laboratories not to kill healthy animals, but to give them to people or to charities such as La Collina dei Conigli.

It is in this organization that Rachel works as a volunteer photographer, creating wonderful portraits of animals who were lucky enough to stay alive after laboratory tests. She says that there is nothing more touching and unforgettable than these tiny creatures, who for the first time felt sunlight and warmth on their wool, who enthusiastically and wonder at the new world and enjoy their first moments of freedom.