A decades-long Agricultural Research Service (ARS) project has intentionally killed untold hundreds of kittens. According to the White Coat Waste Project, which exposed the study, the Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, feeds two-month-old kittens Toxoplasma gondii–infected raw meat, collects their feces for two to three weeks to obtain the parasite for use in other experiments, and then kills the kittens. The USDA has strongly defended the research.
On May 7, Rep. Mike Bishop (R-MI) sent a powerfully worded letter to the USDA, stating, “It appears that this project uses kittens as test tubes. Put simply, it creates life to destroy life.” He subsequently introduced the Kittens in Traumatic Testing Ends Now (KITTEN) Act of 2018, which directs the USDA to “end the use of cats in experiments that cause pain or stress.”