The Rocky Mountain Collegian: Legal counsel with the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law filed a lawsuit against Colorado State University over failure to comply with the Colorado Open Records Act pertaining to investigating behaviors conducted in a commercial slaughter facility where CSU researched mud scoring.

In 2020, CSU conducted a study — published in the journal “Meat Science” in 2021 — on mud scoring that measured how much mud was on the hides of cows at a slaughterhouse facility. The study was funded by the meat industry, and when AALDP was investigating behavior in the study at the slaughterhouse, their requests for video and photos under CORA laws were denied by the university, prompting the April 10 lawsuit.

“(AALDP) is dedicated to advocating for animals and also for government transparency,” said Steffen Seitz, a litigation fellow with AALDP at the Sturm College of Law and one of the attorneys working on the case. “I think the public has an overriding interest in knowing what researchers at public universities are doing, especially (if) they’re acting in concert with industry.”

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