Image by Tatiana Craine

Carter Dillard (bottom right) on the U of M: "What are they hiding?"

Last Friday, City Pages connected with Carter Dillard, director of litigation at the Animal Legal Defense Fund, in hopes of learning more about why his organization has filed a lawsuit against the University of Minnesota's demanding more information about the school's animal research practices.

SEE ALSO:
-- University of Minnesota responds to animal testing secrecy lawsuit: It "lacks merit"
-- University of Minnesota graduate student defends controversial hamster sex drive study

"Nothing we're talking about here involves stopping particular experiments or the ALDF telling researchers what to do," Dillard said. "This is simply about the right to know what's being done with taxpayer money."

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The Defense Fund's lawsuit claims the U of M's Animal Care Committee is subject to the Open Meeting Law; the U's legal counsel disagrees.

:::: UPDATE :::: ALDF: U of M animal research suit about "right to know what's being done with taxpayer money"

The University of Minnesota denies allegations the school has unlawfully restricted public access to records and meetings pertaining to the school's animal research practices.

SEE ALSO:
-- University of Minnesota graduate student defends controversial hamster sex drive study
-- University of Minnesota makes most ridiculous animal research list

Last week, the Animal Legal Defense Fund sued the U of M for 'refusing public access' to Animal Care Committee meetings that are allegedly public, and for not supplying documents the school is legally obligated to share. But in a statement provided to City Pages yesterday, U of M General Counsel Mark Rotenberg argues that the meetings in question are not in fact public, and that university staff is still in the process of compiling and reviewing the documents requested by the Defense Fund.

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The U of M's animal research oversight committee has allegedly refused to release its records.

Yesterday, the national nonprofit Animal Legal Defense Fund and Minneapolis resident Isaac Peter filed a lawsuit against the University of Minnesota for violating the state's open meeting and open records laws.

SEE ALSO: PETA: "There's just no excuse" for Lake Superior Zoo animal deaths during Duluth flood

At issue are the records of the University's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, which is charged with making sure animals used in research don't undergo unnecessary distress. Records of Animal Care Committee meetings are supposed to be public information, but according to the Defense Fund's lawsuit, the university has repeatedly refused to release records of Animal Care meetings.

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If the allegations are true, Janas makes Michael Vick look like a caring dog owner.

Sean Janas, a 20-year-old resident of Wausau, kept a diary about systematically torturing her boyfriend's dog to death, prosecutors say.

SEE ALSO:
-- Dayna Bell, accused puppy drowner, to argue dogs were "commercial animals," not pets
-- Benjamin Stavaas, accused dog throat slasher, heads to trial
-- Wisconsin dog "Big Boy" burned to death, 13-year-old arrested

She now faces felony animal cruelty charges that could land her in prison for five years, but many animal rights advocates think that isn't enough.


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kkirugi on Flickr

Dominguez's goat was found dead, which seems cruel. After all, it's not like it was going to kiss and tell.

Dead-deer ditch sex, copulation with a farm-residing goat... as we've said before, human sexuality is a complex beast.

SEE ALSO: Bryan Hathaway, Duluth-area dead deer sexer, allegedly assaults officer at Wal Mart

The latest example comes from Grant Township in Washington County, where 37-year-old Abimael Dominguez is accused of having sex with a goat. He was busted after investigators went to the extent of analyzing a DNA sample from inside the goat, which was found dead on a farm in early August.

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Hathaway is just 25, but he's already had enough deer sex for several lifetimes.

SEE ALSO:
-- Parts of downtown Moorhead "destroyed" by rampaging herd of deer
-- Holly Boyd charged with throwing, killing Chihuahua puppy after it pissed on her leg
-- Deer shot by police after rampaging through St. Catherine University

Bryan Hathaway was only 20 years old when he gained international notoriety as that guy who had sex with a dead deer.

A half-decade later, he's back in the local news for allegedly assaulting a female police officer at a Duluth Wal-Mart.


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Bell faces 14 felony animals cruelty charges.

Dog breeder Dayna Bell is accused of doing horrible things -- for instance, drowning puppies by putting them in buckets of water, with another weighted bucket on top to prevent their escape.

But, facing 14 felony and two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, Bell and her attorney, Bob Miller, plan to use technicalities to contest the charges before she goes to trial.

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PETA: "What we want to see happen is for the zoo to have good standard operating procedures."

Despite taking heat from people who think they went too far in calling for criminal prosecution of the Lake Superior Zoo following the drownings of more than a dozen animals during last week's incredible flood, PETA isn't backing down.

Reached for comment this morning, Kristin Simon, senior cruelty caseworker for PETA, said once-in-a-lifetime flood or no, "there's just no excuse" for the animal deaths.

"There was a flash-flood warning issued the night of the 19th," hours before a deluge triggered massive flooding that did over $100 million in damage to the Duluth area, Simon said. Referencing a 2010 flood that forced the relocation of some animals, she added that "in an area known for flash-flooding, I don't think it was unforeseeable that [the animals] could be in danger."

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Holly Boyd was found in her apartment bathroom.

​When news broke that Holly Boyd had killed her tiny Chihuahua puppy in a fit of anger, it sparked outrage from dog lovers across the globe. When she was sentenced to 45 days in jail, animal advocates cried foul yet again.

No matter how bad she may have seemed, Boyd's life has -- according to the Anoka County medical examiner's office -- come to a very early end.

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According to a Facebook group, this is one of Lowell Friday's horses.

A horse boarder in East Bethel has been charged with 35 counts of animal cruelty stemming from years-long investigations by the Animal Humane Society into conditions at the man's ranch.

Five years ago, neighbors, former employees, and reporters took note of Lowell George Friday's emaciated-looking horse herd. But it's taken until now for formal charges to be handed down. They describe in detail the hellish-sounding conditions that Friday's 60-plus horses allegedly lived under.

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