Former Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill had some strong words for his alma mater for its medical experiments on dogs.

PETA has been campaigning to stop TAMU’s muscular dystrophy experiments on dogs, and in cooperation with PETA, Tannehill wrote a letter to the university that referenced a video that surfaced last year and urged the school to stop the experiments.

“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,” Tannehill wrote.

Following the release of the video, the school of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences put out a statement in December, and in it the university explained the experiments are held to find a cure for the disease in both children and dogs.

The facility built for this research is state-of-the-art. Our work is shared not only nationally but globally with the goal of finding a cure for this dreadful disease, DMD, in both children and dogs worldwide. We are proud of our care team, facility and work in support of this endeavor.

Tannehill, a self-described dog lover, attended Texas A&M from 2007-2011, and he was drafted by the Dolphins No. 8 overall.

The Palm Beach Post was able to obtain a copy of the letter Tannehill sent President Michael K. Young.

Michael K. Young
President
Texas A&M University

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