Oregon Supreme Court to Hear Oral Argument of PETA’s $400k+ Judgment Against OHSU

For Immediate Release:
October 14, 2026

Contact:
Sydney Rader 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Foundation General Counsel for Litigation Michael Waller regarding the Oregon Supreme Court’s October 15^th hearing on PETA’s appeal to reinstate a fees award from a Multnomah County trial court. In 2022, the trial court ordered Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) to pay PETA more than $400,000 in a case involving an infamous sex experiment with drunken, tethered voles. An appellate court reversed that award after OHSU appealed.  PETA then appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court for enforcement of the trial court’s award.

PETA is eager to make its case before the Oregon Supreme Court. An Oregon judge ordered OHSU to pay PETA $434,133 after PETA proved the school violated state public records law by failing to comply with its statutory obligations to search for and produce videos of so-called sexual fidelity experiments on drunk voles, committed sanctionable misconduct, and illegally surveilled PETA. That award was meant to compensate PETA for the considerable expenses it incurred bringing OHSU’s indefensible experiments to light. OHSU should not be allowed to misconstrue the law to avoid paying their debt to PETA. The Court’s reinstatement of the award will go a long way toward getting that message across and emphasizing the critical role access to public records plays in a healthy democracy. 

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.