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| Reports describing procedures that caused unrelieved animal pain and distress had large amounts of information omitted. ©iStock.com |
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The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have reached a settlement in a lawsuit over access to annual reports of facilities conducting animal research.
Access Denied
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in January 2005, alleged that the USDA violated the Freedom of Information Act by failing to provide The HSUS with numerous reports required by the Animal Welfare Act.
The reports concerned painful animal experiments conducted without anesthetics or other pain or distress relief measures.
Other reports that were provided to The HSUS often had large amounts of information pertaining to animal pain and distress removed. In some cases entire pages were omitted.
The suit also sought to compel the USDA to make available online the annual reports from all Animal Welfare Act-mandated animal research facilities in the U.S.
Successfully Settled
As part of the settlement, the USDA is required to make the annual reports—including information about animals who experience pain and distress—available to the public electronically and in a timely manner.
By August 31 the USDA must make "good faith efforts" to post on its website annual reports for the years 2005-2008 that have not yet been posted. Any reports not posted by August 31 must be posted no later than December 31.
For the years 2009-2013, the USDA is required to post all annual reports for the previous fiscal year by March 31, with the exception of reports that include "column E" explanations—information on animals who experienced unrelieved pain and/or distress. Reports with "column E" explanations must be posted as they are processed but no later than July 15 each year.
The USDA will also be required to indicate on its website which facilities did not submit annual reports, and therefore failed to abide by the Animal Welfare Act.
In addition, the USDA has agreed to reduce the amount of information it omits about procedures that cause animals unrelieved animal pain and distress before releasing the documents to the public.
Increased access to this information will better inform the public about the procedures used and the scientific justification that researchers have provided for the unrelieved pain and distress that some animals experience. The information will also help The HSUS determine which areas of research would most benefit from increased efforts to minimize animal pain and distress.
The settlement was approved by the federal district court for the District of Columbia on July 2. The HSUS is represented by the public interest law firm of Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal.
A Right to Know
The HSUS expressed its gratitude to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for providing greater transparency about what is happening to animals at research facilities across the nation.
"We are pleased with the settlement and look forward to using the information to challenge the research community to avoid causing substantial pain and distress to research animals," said Kathleen Conlee, director of program management for animal research issues for The HSUS. "Information that the USDA gathers on painful and distressful animal experiments will no longer remain buried in USDA files."
