Watchdog exposes kitty deaths in USDA tests
THE FEDERAL government deliberately sickens then kills hundreds of defenseless kittens every year all in the name of science, an animal rights group charged Tuesday.
Researchers with the Animal Parasitic Disease Lab in Maryland take 100 two-month-old kittens every year and feed them parasite-infected raw meat for several weeks, and then incinerate them “like they’re trash,” according to federal documents uncovered by the White Coat Waste Project.
The furry felines are healthy enough after the experiments for adoption, the group says, but they’re killed anyway.
Congressman Mike Bishop (R- Mich.) in a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said “it appears this project uses Kittens as test tubes.”
“As you can imagine, I was shocked to hear that the USDA, the very organization set out to enforce animal welfare laws and regulations, was treating the life of animals with such contempt,” he continued.
The watchdog group, which targets taxpayer-funded animal experiments, said it uncovered details on the kitten research through a public records request.
The research, which has been ongoing since at least 1982, was still active at the Beltsville Lab in Maryland as of last month, according to White Coat.
The Michigan lawmaker acknowledge the particular parasite, Toxoplasma oocysts, can currently only be produced in cats, but pushed back against the federal research.
“Put simply, it creates life to destroy life,” Bishop said. “While I support the objective of making food safer and protecting people and animals from infectious diseases, we must ensure taxpayer dollars are used effectively, efficiently and humanely.”
Bishop also goes on to call for an investigation into the program and questions why the kittens are being killed instead of offered up for adoption. Most veterinarian groups say cats infected with Toxoplasma oocysts can recover with a course of antibiotics.