People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has filed a lawsuit against Texas A&M University regarding the release of records relating to its medical research labs that involve dogs with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).
In a statement released by PETA today, the organization said it submitted a request on January 8 to the university under the Texas Public Information Act (PIA) for copies of records relating to the DMD dog lab after a Texas A&M University alum publicly stated that the lab would be closing.
The statement says PETA’s request was initially referred to the Texas attorney general before it was withdrawn under the pretense that the requested information was confidential under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
“PETA’s lawsuit contends that the records in question do not constitute protected ‘student records’ under FERPA, so as a public institution, TAMU must release them,” the statement said.
“Public records are crucial to citizens’ understanding of how their tax dollars are being used,” PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo said. “We look forward to the court’s decision on this important case.”
This lawsuit comes just one month after PETA filed a lawsuit against the university for censoring its Facebook comments.
A&M officials expect to release a statement soon.