While OSU will mourn the dollars associated with the deaths of hundreds of animals due to a power outage, P.O.E.T. will mourn the tragic and agonizing deaths of the mice, rats, and rabbit.

Those animals had lived their lives in cages and relied on humans to care for them. The humans failed in their responsibilities.

However, the animals used in the experiments were not "happy" anyway. Many of the mice that died had been used in experiments where pain and/or distress was not relieved. They were artifically injected to produce symptons that are MS-like. From a multiple sclerosis website they state, "It is undeniable that the animals involved suffer considerably."

From the start we have asked where was ULAR (University Laboratory Animal Research) staff? Let's hope the investigators are asking the same question.

This is actually the third time that animals have either died or been killed due to building maintanance issues at OSU. The number of animals that needed to be replaced due to the problems, 394 mice and 208 hamsters. Click here for further information.

October, 23, the university releases the results of their investigation. Lack of information sharing was one of the primary reasons that lead to the animals death.

The Dispatch reports the story on the 24th followed by The Lantern on the 25th.

Initial stories of the Graves Hall power failure, in July 2006, below ---

Power outage results in death of animals - OSU Lantern - July 19, 2006

In all, 598 mice, 90 rats and one rabbit died.

Years of research die with specially bred lab mice
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Mike Lafferty
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

When a power failure triggered the death of nearly 600 mice at Ohio State University last week, a group of researchers lost more than their lab rodents.

Mary Cheng lost years of insight into the human brain. Caroline Whitacre lost a better understanding of multiple sclerosis.

Most of the mice were specially bred for research.

"The tragic situation is where you have one-of-a-kind animals, specifically generated and bred over time," said Whitacre, an OSU molecular virologist, immunologist and medical geneticist.

"Those can’t be replaced. That research is gone."

She lost about 100 specially bred mice, about half the number in her projects.

"The patients for whom we were doing this research, the cures are delayed," she said.

University officials are still trying to determine what happened last Wednesday when one of two main electric lines was taken offline for a few hours for a construction project.

When the remaining line developed a short, there was no backup, and most of the electricity to Graves Hall and several other buildings was cut off.

For some reason, when the power was restored, the heat came on instead of the air conditioning. In some areas, temperatures rose to 105 degrees.

Of the more than 5,000 lab animals in the basement in Graves, 689 succumbed to the heat. Most were mice.

The mice and other animals were used in 21 research projects into everything from Alzheimer’s to cocaine addiction.

"Sick isn’t the word," said Cheng, a 32-year-old neuroscientist, describing how she felt when she learned 400 of her mice — and much of her research — had died in the heat.

For two years, Cheng had spent 12 to 16 hours each day in a crash program to breed the mice to study brain structure and function, epilepsy and circadian rhythms.

"I’ve done 48-hour stretches. There’s no such thing as evenings or weekends or holidays. I do set my life aside for this," she said.

Cheng’s adviser, Karl Obrietan, is counting up the losses.

The mice were part of two four-year projects that cost a total of $3 million.

Half the grant money goes to the university to provide support, including electricity.

"I have been paying for a lot of services to maintain these animals and now they are gone," Obrietan said.

Such mice are extremely expensive, and Obrietan said he has lost several hundred thousand dollars in research.

Earle Holland, an OSU spokesman, said the university wants to work with researchers to get them back on track as soon as possible.

RESEARCH SETBACK
Power failure at OSU kills 598 mice
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Mike Lafferty
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Ohio State University officials are investigating the failure of an electrical generator Wednesday that resulted in the deaths of 689 laboratory animals, damaging 21 research projects.

The outage at about 6 p.m. affected six buildings on the medical campus. But the research animals that died — 598 mice, 90 rats and one rabbit — all were in Graves Hall.

The projects affected involved epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, cardiovascular disease and other disorders, according to Douglas Kniss, senior associate vice president for research.

"I feel terrible for colleagues who had losses," he said, adding that some of the researchers had been working on their projects for years.

One of two large generators was offline as part of a renovation project so there was no backup when power went out, Kniss said. When it was restored, the heat came on in some areas, he said.

"Temperature ranges went from the 80s in a couple of rooms to as high as 105 in one room," Kniss said.

Animal-care workers found the animals Thursday morning.

Kniss said there is no evidence of sabotage.

The outage did not affect the hospital, which has separate emergency backups. The power loss affected Dodd, Davis, Graves, and Meiling halls, plus the Neuropsychiatry and University Clinic buildings.

Backup generators automatically started and provided limited emergency power, but not air conditioning, according to the university. Power was restored by 2 a.m. Thursday.