Court Rules University of Washington Animal Oversight Committee Can’t Hide Members’ Names

In another win for PETA, the U.S. District Court for the Western District dealt a massive blow to the University of Washington animal experimentation oversight committee—whose members attempted to evade basic public oversight by keeping their identities secret—handing down a decision that removes any legal barrier to PETA and Northwest Animal Rights Network receiving records that would reveal committee members’ names. The judge threw out a motion for a preliminary injunction filed by members of UW’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee—which is supposed to be the last line of defense for animals imprisoned in the school’s laboratories, yet has failed miserably, leading to animals killed by irradiation, starvation, dehydration, strangulation, scalding, blood loss, and more.