Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
QB Ryan Tannehill helps in PETA’s efforts to stop research on dogs.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill has joined PETA to speak out against research practices involving dogs at his alma mater, Texas A&M.
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) accuses the school of breeding dogs to have muscular dystrophy for the purpose of conducting experiments, a claim the university refutes.
Tannehill, who as recently as 2014 owned two dogs — Bear, a black Labrador retriever, and Coco, a dachshund — sent a letter to Texas A&M president Michael K. Young asking him to put an end to the practice, according to a PETA news release.
“As a dog lover and as an alumnus of your university, I implore you to make the compassionate decision to call for an end to the experiments, stop breeding these dogs, and release them for adoption,” Tannehill wrote, according to PETA’s release.
Megan Palsa, executive director for communications for the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M, said the school does research on dogs, including dogs that come in with muscular dystrophy — a hereditary condition marked by progressive weakening and wasting of the muscles. But, she said, “We do not harm dogs in the process, or any animal. We’re searching for cures with animals and humans alike.”
This was Tannehill’s first involvement with PETA, said Moira Colley, a spokeswoman for the organization. Colley said PETA thought Tannehill “would find the experiments abhorrent and he did.”
Tannehill — who was at Texas A&M from 2007-11 — didn’t author the letter to the president by himself. “We worked together with him on the letter, and put together the basic wording,” Colley said.
The Dolphins confirmed that Tannehill took part in writing the letter. He is expected to speak to reporters later this week as the team begins offseason practices.
Palsa said the accusations by PETA about breeding the dogs to have muscular dystrophy are not true and that there is “rigorous oversight of their care” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Institute of Health, the Department of Defense and another accrediting body.
“As you know, there are those who are vigorously against any use of animals in research,” she said. “It saddens us that without full knowledge of what we are doing but with a rigid position, groups use slander that adversely affects the opinion of those who don’t know all of the facts.”
Palsa said the dogs involved in Texas A&M’s research “are treated with great care and tenderness, as they help unravel the mysteries and potential cures for this dreadful disease, thus helping both children and animals.”
Here’s Tannehill’s letter to Texas A&M president Michael K. Young, according to PETA’s news release:
Dear President Young, I'm writing to you as one of the many people who have seen this heartbreaking footage released by PETA showing the conditions of golden retrievers and other dogs at Texas A&M's canine muscular dystrophy laboratory. As a dog lover and as an alumnus of your university, I implore you to make the compassionate decision to call for an end to the experiments, stop breeding these dogs, and release them for adoption.
The images from that video will never leave my mind. Muscular dystrophy is indeed a terrible disease, and there's no question that a cure must be found. But subjecting trusting dogs to a shortened lifetime of difficulty, pain, and loneliness is not the way to do it. This cruelty is completely unjustified. Texas A&M's years of experiments on dogs have not led to a cure or even to an effective treatment. It's time to reject this failed approach and to put resources into better methods now being used elsewhere.
Please put a stop to this cruel and fruitless work and adopt these dogs out to compassionate families who will give them all the care and attention that they deserve for the remainder of their lives. Thank you for your attention to this crucial matter. Sincerely, Ryan Tannehill