The Humane Society of the United States filed a lawsuit today against the U.S. Department of Agriculture for failing to provide numerous documents to the animal protection organization which has been requesting them since 2001 under the Freedom of Information Act. The suit also seeks to compel the USDA to make animal research facility annual reports available online.
"Freedom of information is critical to the way the animal protection community monitors the use of animals in research, so the inability to obtain information that should be publicly accessible is one of the greatest challenges animal advocates face," says Martin Stephens, HSUS vice president for Animal Research Issues. "The HSUS and other animal protection organizations base much of their work on information acquired from the government."
To obtain that information, advocates commonly submit federal FOIA requests to the USDA. Charged with enforcing minimal care standards for animals used in research under the Animal Welfare Act, the USDA has required research facilities that use animals to submit annual reports since 1970. Those reports include such details as the number and species of animals used in research, the official pain and distress category of research conducted, and explanations as to why pain and distress relief was withheld, if applicable. Explanations regarding any deviations from Animal Welfare Act regulations and standards that were approved by the facility's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee must also be included in annual reports.
Animal protectionists also routinely request that the USDA provide inspection reports, which are written by USDA agents following their examination of regulated facilities, including animal research facilities, exhibitors, dealers, breeders, carriers and handlers. Third party sources have reported that the Justice Department recently ruled that these reports should be put back online, but The HSUS has not been able to verify this independently.
The HSUS's Animal Research Issues section has suffered various setbacks in its FOIA requests to gain access to key research-related documents from the USDA. The agency's decision to remove facility inspection and annual reports from its web site in 2002—a result of pressure from pro-animal research organizations that cited domestic terrorism reasons in the wake of the 9/11 attacks—magnified delays and The HSUS's ensuing frustration. While that removal didn't make the documents completely inaccessible to the public, they must now be obtained through requests to the USDA FOIA office, which can take years to fulfill. Some recent examples of those delays:
When USDA failed to post annual reports for 1999 on its web site by January 2001, The HSUS submitted a FOIA request for the reports. By January 2005, The HSUS had received only 24 of approximately 1,400 documents requested.
In July 2002, The HSUS submitted a request that the USDA provide a list of all research facilities that house or conduct research on ape species. Two and a half years later, the USDA has still not fulfilled this request.
In July 2004, The HSUS submitted a request to USDA for annual reports for all research facilities for the years 2000 to the present. The USDA has not yet fulfilled this request.
Roadblocks to Freedom
The Freedom of Information Act, passed in 1966, enables the public to access virtually all records possessed by federal agencies, unless the documents fall within nine specific exemptions. The Electronic Freedom of Information Act, passed in 1996, requires federal agencies to make documents most commonly requested from the public available electronically. Additionally, each state has its own public access laws.
Peter Petersan, HSUS's deputy director of Animal Protection Litigation, explains that The HSUS "filed the lawsuit to obtain documents that are important to our work to protect animals in research. A four-year wait for these documents is unreasonable and violates the Freedom of Information Act."
"Clearly, USDA has repeatedly violated the law by not providing the public with requested documents. While these documents may contain sensitive information, the animal protection community has made it clear that we don't need this information and it can be redacted. But information about animal care and use does not compromise homeland security and should be made available," says Kathleen Conlee, HSUS director of Program Management for Animal Research Issues. "Blocking access to these documents has created serious roadblocks for those working to protect the millions of animals used in research every year. The HSUS was forced to file suit against the USDA in order to obtain certain documents that are essential to our animal protection work."
Conlee explains that annual reports, inspection reports, and similar documents are invaluable to holding research facilities accountable to the public. They are also useful in identifying areas of research—particularly research that causes significant pain and distress—that require immediate attention with regard to the development of alternatives.
The HSUS's Stephens notes that "the USDA appears to be inappropriately shielding animal research facilities from public scrutiny of the treatment of animals in those facilities." Restoring electronic access to the documents on the USDA's web site, he said, would provide "speedier access to the documents and allow for timely follow-up on issues such as identification of trends in painful and distressful use of research animals."
"If research is being conducted lawfully and responsibly," he adds, "there's no legitimate reason not to demonstrate that."
A timeline of events related to this issue is provided below.
Timeline of Events
The following events are related to challenges that The HSUS and others have faced in requesting animal research information through the USDA FOIA office:
1966: The Freedom of Information Act became law.
1996: Amendments to FOIA through the Electronic Freedom of Information Act amendments became law.
1999: The USDA made annual reports available on its web site.
January 3, 2001: The HSUS submitted a FOIA request for all annual reports for 1999, due to delays in posting of this information on the USDA web site. (By January 2005, The HSUS had received only 24 of the approximately 1,400 documents requested).
October 22, 2001: The USDA made inspection reports available on its web site.
January 17, 2002: The Washington Animal Research Network met with USDA to dispute the posting of inspection reports on the USDA web site.
February 11, 2002: The Washington Animal Research Network met with USDA a second time to dispute the posting of inspection reports on the USDA web site.
February 21, 2002: A memo was circulated within USDA that a decision was made to remove inspection reports as a result of meetings with "several industry groups."
February 28, 2002: Inspection reports were removed from the USDA web site.
March 6, 2002: An e-mail within USDA indicated that annual reports should be removed immediately from the USDA web site (no documents or explanations provided in regards to this decision)—reports were removed immediately.
March 19, 2002: The Department of Justice released a memo requesting agencies to review records management procedures and to withhold any information that relates to homeland security. The USDA decided to consider inspection and annual reports as related to homeland security.
May 17, 2002: The USDA indicated in a letter to Congressman Nethercutt that inspection and annual reports do not apply to the Department of Justice memo of March 19, 2002.
May 24, 2002: The HSUS and eleven other animal protection organizations sent a joint letter to USDA urging the agency to restore annual and inspection reports to its web site.
HSUS Asks USDA to Return Animal Research Information to Web Site
Animal Protection Groups Urge USDA to Return Reports to Web Site
July 11, 2002: The HSUS submitted a request to USDA for a list of all research facilities that house or conduct research on ape species (the USDA had not fulfilled this request as of January 2005).
July 24, 2002: The HSUS requested a meeting with USDA to discuss restoration of annual and inspection reports to the USDA web site.
September 4, 2002: The HSUS met with USDA to discuss restoration of annual and inspection reports to the USDA web site.
September 30, 2003: The HSUS received 24 of the approximately 1,400 documents requested from the USDA on January 3, 2001.
July 26, 2004: The HSUS submitted a request to USDA for annual reports for all research facilities for the years 2000-present.
October 20, 2004: The HSUS filed an appeal with USDA regarding various documents that were requested since January 3, 2001, but were not yet provided.
January 27, 2005: The HSUS filed a lawsuit against The USDA regarding various documents requested since January 3, 2001. The suit also compels USDA to make annual reports available electronically.
