The University of Washington has been ordered to pay the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) nearly $540,000 following a 2020 lawsuit that alleged the university destroyed critical public records during a federal investigation.

In December 2021, the National Institute of Health released the results of a federal investigation launched against the University of Washington’s primate facility located in Mesa, Arizona. The facility is one of the nation's largest for breeding pigtailed macaques. The investigation was a result of a complaint filed by PETA after the statewide news outlet, The Arizona Republic, reported on allegations of widespread disease within the facility.

The Arizona Republic’s investigation found that the facility ran rampant with diseases including Valley Fever, a flu-like disease that is brought about by a fungus unique to the soil in the Phoenix desert. As a result of the widespread Valley Fever, there was a high rate of sickness and death among the monkeys at the facility. The seven-month-long investigation found that over the past eight years, at least 47 pigtailed macaques died at the facility.

The investigation also unveiled that the monkeys were drinking contaminated well water which could prove to be harmful if ingested over a long period of time. The well water was contaminated with perchlorate, a leeched contaminant in the well water from an adjacent defense contractor facility that had rocket fuel leaking into nearby ponds. The facility was advised to install a water treatment system, but the recommendation went ignored.

The investigation also found that the facility was in financial disarray and that there was a high staff turnover rate including among key researchers. Poor decision-making from staff members in leadership positions also helped to contribute to a work environment with low morale.

The Arizona Republic's investigation also found that the facility’s poor management of the health and well-being of the monkeys had the potential to impact research into cures and vaccines for global diseases including AIDS, HIV, Zika, Ebola, and Hepatitis. The investigation detailed that such research has cost the federal government tens of millions of dollars over the years.

Following The Arizona Republic's investigation, the NIH’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare launched its own formal investigation after PETA filed a complaint. The NIH announced that after the investigation was concluded and the case was closed, PETA could access the outcome of the investigation via the Freedom of Information Act.

After the investigation was concluded, PETA contended that the University of Washington failed to release records and documentation regarding the breeding practices and experiments that went on in the facility. PETA filed a Public Records lawsuit in 2020, and the lawsuit would eventually unveil that the research center has regularly destroyed photographs, video, and other evidence that documented experiments and breeding practices at the facility.

A King County Superior Court judge agreed with PETA’s allegations, ruling that “the University of Washington failed to prove it performed an adequate search for responsive records beyond a reasonable doubt, failed to provide its fullest assistance and most timely possible response, and failed to prove it provided all of its responsive records when it first closed the request, or to this day, for PETA’s Third, Fourth, and Sixth PRA request.”

Following news of the judgment, PETA issued a statement that explained in part, “Evading scrutiny of controversial experiments on monkeys by concealing and destroying public records has consequences. That’s the $540,000 message the King County Superior Court sent to the University of Washington today.”