Hide and Sneak: UMass Experimenter Tries, and Fails, to Hide Public Records
With the help of supporters like you, PETA scored an enormous victory for animals by shutting down the heinous laboratory of University of Massachusetts–Amherst experimenter Agnès Lacreuse after years of sustained pressure.
But before Lacreuse announced its closure, she tried desperately to keep you from knowing what really happened inside her federally funded laboratory, according to documents PETA obtained in a successful public records lawsuit.
Here’s the short version: PETA asked for public records pertaining to the goings-on inside Lacreuse’s laboratory. Alarm bells apparently rang. The school circled the wagons, refusing to comply with Massachusetts Public Records Law. We sued. And won.
PETA obtained hundreds of pages of records, but we also learned just how low Agnès Lacreuse apparently holds the public’s right to know about what happens with your money.
“Agnès [Lacreuse] said any photos that don’t look good will need to be deleted so I will make sure to do this,” a former Lacreuse laboratory member and student said in an email PETA obtained.
There’s page after page of Lacreuse obfuscating, seeking to delete or hide, stalling, or otherwise trying to keep PETA from obtaining a truthful accounting of her grim experiments, or directing others to do the same.
What We Already Know
Lacreuse took more than $6 million in federal funding to conduct curiosity-driven experiments on tiny marmosets that produced zero treatments for humans.
In her Eating Soup with a Fork approach to science, Lacreuse used marmosets in experiments supposedly designed to study age-related changes in human cognition associated with menopause. The thing is, marmosets are not tiny humans, and they don’t experience menopause. So experimenters approximated menopausal conditions by pressing hand warmers against the monkeys to simulate hot flashes. Real science-y stuff.
Hide and Sneak
Lacreuse’s correspondence, detailed in the documents PETA received, is a treasure trove of shady behavior. Read these gems:
“By the way, I don’t think you do, but if you had videos and pictures on your computer (older then [sic] 3 years) they should be deleted as they are good for grab and this awful organization does not deserve any (please don’t send any by email)”
“is there a way to push back on these [public records] requests? it is a total waste of our time and PETA exploits this to bully us.”
“About the videos: it is what PETA is after so after scoring is done I would suggest to destroy them and definitely NOT sending them to me.”
Lacreuse’s correspondence also shows she confabbed with other animal experimenters to get advice on how they avoid fulfilling public records requests.
Lacreuse, in an email, sought counsel from another monkey experimenter at Oregon Health & Science University, looking for ideas on how to avoid requests for records. He responded: “I just got off our monthly call, and Jon Levine, director of the WNPRC [Wisconsin National Primate Research Center], had the following comment (my paraphrasing): At WNPRC, we’ve been able to successfully block FOIA [public records] requests pertaining to active NIH-funded research projects, under the grounds that they are requesting “proprietary” information.”
Let’s be clear, Lacreuse was looking for an end-run around a state law designed to keep an honest accounting of those who receive public money and to deter corruption and fraud. Her colleagues were more than happy to help her, hinting at a far more widespread problem among experimenters who believe the law is a mere inconvenience that can be sidestepped whenever possible.
What You Can Do
Supporters like you helped shut down Lacreuse’s laboratory. You can do it again. If you’re in the U.S., please TAKE ACTION today and join PETA’s call to shutter other primate prisons.
And no matter where you live, you can join PETA’s call to shut down primate prisons:
