ANIMALS SACRIFICED TO WYETH'S HOT AIR

An air-vent problem at one animal-testing lab has pointed to a disturbing problem with the industry as a whole. More than 500 mice died horrible suffocating deaths when a ventilator failed in 90-degree heat. Unless told otherwise, we can assume some if not most of these mice were current test subjects, meaning those tests are now ruined, meaning many more mice will have suffered and died for absolutely nothing. "Unfortunately, they had to be sacrificed," said the Wyeth spokesman. Yep, sacrificed to your company's incompetence. Sacrificed to your apathy. Note that Wyeth didn't even admit to the fiasco until asked by a reporter, tipped off by animal rights activists.

But the bigger news is in this shrug-it-off quote from the "private laboratory accreditation group" that's supposed to be monitoring conditions in animal-test labs: "I would not say this kind of thing happens frequently, but it does happen," said John H. Miller. Oh, does it? "He declined to disclose other cases, citing confidentiality agreements with member labs, but did say Wyeth's reported number of deaths was not unusual." Oh really? So 500 animals needlessly dying from simple human errors is common in this industry - as is, obviously the lack of true concern or accountability among the people responsible. Apparently the only unusual thing here is the public finding out about it. Shameful.