Group Seeks Birth and Breeding Records, Information on a Dog Named Buckley From University's Canine Muscular Dystrophy Laboratory
For Immediate Release:
August 10, 2018
Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 404-907-4172
College Station, Texas – PETA has filed a lawsuit to compel Texas A&M University (TAMU) to disclose records—as required by the state’s public-records law, the Texas Public Information Act—that document breeding and the births of puppies to be used in experiments in the university’s canine muscular dystrophy (MD) dog laboratory. PETA also seeks records about a King Charles Cavalier spaniel called Buckley, one of hundreds of dogs experimented on in the laboratory.
This is the third lawsuit involving the experiments on dogs that PETA has filed against TAMU in the last three months. On May 14, the group filed a suit challenging the school’s censorship of free speech through the use of a filter on its official Facebook page that automatically deletes visitor posts and comments if they contain words such as “PETA,” “cruelty,” and “lab.” On June 28, PETA filed suit to compel the university to disclose public records related to the reported closure of the laboratory.
Although TAMU had previously released 4,000 pages of the same types of records on other dogs, it refused to provide any records in response to PETA’s requests, claiming that the requested information is confidential and has commercial value. PETA is represented by the Austin firm Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody.
“Texas A&M is trying to hide how it brings very sick dogs into its laboratory and what it does to them, but it’s a state institution and required by law to be transparent,” says PETA Vice President Dr. Alka Chandna, Ph.D. “The public has a right to know how their tax dollars and charitable contributions are being used by the university to fund cruelty behind closed doors.”
PETA has released video footage showing dogs in TAMU’s laboratories suffering from a crippling and painful form of canine MD that leaves them struggling to walk, swallow, and even breathe. Numerous people—including patients with MD, scientists, Lily Tomlin, Richard Linklater, Ryan Tannehill, and Bill Maher—have teamed up with PETA to speak out against the experiments.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
