With great sadness, we share the news of the passing of Russ Kick, Rise for Animals’ Director of Open Records.
Russ was an activist with a passion and unmatched skillset for “undeleting” official secrets and government documents. At Rise, Russ was instrumental in the creation and upkeep of ARLO, the animal protection movement’s most comprehensive open-source transparency tool exposing the truth about the use of animals in U.S. experiments. Russ filed thousands of public records requests for Rise under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)—an amazing feat of transparency that continues to shine a light on taxpayer-funded animal labs that would rather keep their experiments out of the public eye.
I’ve always been interested in important things that are suppressed, ignored, or simply forgotten… I can’t stay away from FOIA, transparency, and holding the powerful to account.
-Russ Kick, in his website’s bio
Russ was a writer, editor, anthologist, investigator, and archivist. His wide-reaching interests included everything from literature to pop culture, cocktails to mysticism. He was at once both soft-spoken and outspoken. He was funny and kind and so often poignant. He was a champion of knowledge and a force for good, for humans and animals alike.
We are forever honored to have worked alongside Russ in his crusade for the truth.
Below, listen to Russ read “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost.
In memory of Russ, discover some of the secrets he worked tirelessly to expose. Visit ARLO, the Animal Research Laboratory Overview, Rise for Animals’ massive database of government documents exposing animal use in laboratories across the U.S.
ARLO would never have been possible without Russ’s incredible vision and prowess.