BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) Hundreds of mice, rats and hamsters used for research were released from their cages at the state University of New York at Buffalo Medical School, but no animal rights group claimed responsibility. The animals were found scampering around five rooms Saturday morning by a technician arriving for work, said school spokeswoman Linda Grace-Kobas. ``They opened the cages, and the mice and the rats (and hamsters) got out of the cages, but they did not escape from the rooms,'' she said. There were no signs of a break-in or indication why the animals were released. ``Usually animal rights people leave a message,'' she said. ``There were no notes. No `Save the Animals.' This was strange. It seemed random. It seemed pointless.'' University officials were trying to determine what effect the animals' release will have on research projects in which they were used, she said. ``By letting them out, it disrupts the experiments,'' she said, adding that some of the experiments are based on the animals being in a closed enviroment. Also, since not all the animals were tagged, researchers may not be able to determine which animals belonged to what experiments.
