From a preliminary injunction decision by Judge Richard Jones (W.D. Wash.) in Sullivan v. Univ. of Washington (with PETA as intervenors; earlier coverage here):
The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee ("IACUC") at the University of Washington monitors animal research conducted at the university. The committee "approves and monitors all proposed projects that include vertebrates or cephalopods" to "ensur[e] that animals receive the care, treatment and respect they deserve as critical components of biomedical research to find cures for diseases and conditions that afflict both humans and animals."
The IACUC hosts monthly public meetings, where members of the public may speak. Some members of the public hope to end the University of Washington's animal research outright. Their comments vary, from referring to researchers as "sadistic" to comparing the university and IACUC to Auschwitz and Nazis. On other occasions, "individuals associated with animal research" at the university have even received "harassing emails, letters and voice messages, some including threatening language." See also Dkt. # 4 ¶¶ 6-7 (picketing outside of researcher's private home, kidnapping of pets), Dkt. # 5 ¶¶ 7-8 (calling animal researchers "vile [expletive] humans" and saying "I'm going to do what is necessary to stop animal research").
Given the hostility, IACUC members are anonymous, currently "identified only by initials online and in [the committee's] publicly posted meeting minutes." Yet opponents of animal research seek to obtain certain documents from the university that would end that anonymity.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ("PETA") is an organization that seeks to "expos[e] the cruelty of animal tests" to "ensure their imminent end." On June 24, 2021, a PETA representative made a request for public records under Washington's Public Records Act. Specifically, the representative requested the "appointment letters" of IACUC members for the period from January 1, 2014 to the present. Those letters contain personal identifying information of the committee members: names, email addresses, titles, department affiliations, and more….
