The US Department of Agriculture on Tuesday announced that it would no longer use cats in research that, according to a watchdog group, involved forced “cannibalism” and resulted in more than 3,000 of the animals being put down since 1982.
Over more than three decades, in a laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, near Washington, scientists fed cats and kittens meat possibly contaminated with the parasite toxoplasma gondii, according to the White Coat Waste Project (WCW).
The researchers then tested the cats’ stools to confirm the presence of toxoplasma — which can only complete entire life cycles in cats — in the meat. After three weeks, they went on to euthanize the cats even though the felines were healthy.
Photo: AFP
At least 3,000 cats and kittens were used since 1982, said the WCW, which unveiled the “kitten slaughterhouse” in May last year.
The program was not necessarily secret, but remained off the radar to the general public.
“We are absolutely thrilled that kittens are out of harm’s way,” said Justin Goodman, vice president of the WCW, which works to protect the thousands of cats and dogs used in private and university labs across the US.
Another bombshell WCW report last month revealed that for a decade — ending in 2015 — the department also bought hundreds of deceased cats and dogs in China, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Colombia and other countries to feed it cats and other animals, the group said.
Following last year’s investigation, horrified lawmakers on Capitol Hill introduced bills to end the project.
It was a rare moment of unity for Democrats and Republicans, with at least 60 co-signing the “Kitten Act” to stop the program.
“Hardworking taxpayers shouldn’t be funding government kitten abuse,” US Representative Matt Gaetz said.
Under that pressure, the department said that “the use of cats as part of any research protocol in any ARS [Agricultural Research Service] laboratory has been discontinued and will not be reinstated.”
“This is a major victory for kittens, cats and taxpayers,” US Representative Dina Titus said.
The 14 remaining cats would be adopted by officials at the department, which said that the research has contributed to halving the rate of people infected with the parasite, which is dangerous for pregnant women and can be deadly.
The best way to avoid infection is to thoroughly cook meat and wash hands after gardening or cleaning cat litter.
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