WASHINGTON (WOOD) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture says its Agricultural Research Service has ended a research program a watchdog group says led to the deaths of thousands of felines.
The USDA announced Tuesday that ARS has halted its toxoplasmosis testing on cats.
“ARS toxoplasmosis research has reached its maturity and ARS considers the project’s objectives for agriculture achieved,” thenews release stated.
The announcement came two weeks after NBC News reported ARS scientists bought dogs and cats from “Asian meat markets” that were euthanized and fed to healthy cats at their lab. Those findings came from the White Coat Waste Project -- a nonprofit group against “wasteful” taxpayer-funded animal testing.
The White Coat Waste Project said the ARS research led to the deaths of more than 3,000 cats and cost $22.5 million since the program began in 1982.
>>PDF: White Coat Waste Project report: "USDA Kitten Cannibalism"
While the USDA did not mention the “cat cannibalism” experiments in its news release about halting testing, the agency said all research involving cats at any ARS laboratory has stopped and will not be restarted.
ARS’ toxoplasmosis testing involved infecting cats with a parasite that causes toxoplasmosis, which the USDA says is the nation’s leading cause of foodborne illness.
ARS said its research helped curb the parasite’s prevalence in the U.S. by as much as 50 percent.
But the White Coat Waste Project contended the 8-week-old kittens fed meat infected with the parasite became immune within weeks and were “killed and incinerated by the USDA because they are no longer useful.”
ARS said it started taking steps to curb cat testing in May 2018 “after hearing the feedback of our customers and stakeholders.” The research group said it stopped infecting and euthanizing cats with toxoplasmosis pathogens in September 2018.
While the White Coast Waste Project said the infected kittens and cats could be safely adopted out, ARS said an independent panel unanimously agreed cats infected with toxoplasmosis posed too great a risk to human health for adoption.
The USDA said all 14 uninfected cats are being adopted by USDA employees “in accordance with regulatory guidelines.”