UPDATE (4/2/19): Following a year-long White Coat Waste Project campaign, the USDA announced that its kitten slaughterhouse will close permanently and the 14 surviving cats will be adopted out. Read more.

Original post (12/20/18)

Kittens locked in secretive and cruel government labs are getting an early Christmas gift.

As reported by CNN, Reason, and others, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) has just introduced the Senate version of the Kittens in Traumatic Testing Ends Now (KITTEN Act) (S.3780) to end the use of cats and kittens in wasteful and deadly taxpayer-funded experiments at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The House version of the KITTEN Act garnered over 60 bipartisan cosponsors.

A new bill would end the USDA’s practice of needlessly euthanizing kittens after feeding them parasite-infected meat. https://t.co/ue1UhzYdvJ

— reason (@reason) December 28, 2018

Earlier this year, White Coat Waste Project exposed that for decades, as Sen. Merkley explained to CNN, “The USDA breeds up to 100 kittens a year, feeds them parasite-infected meat in order to have the parasite’s eggs harvested for use in other experiments, and then kills the kittens.” The USDA kills the 3-month-old kittens even though veterinarians and public health authorities report that they’re healthy and adoptable. The project currently receives $650,000 in tax money each year. Since it began, 3,000 kittens have been killed and $22 million has been wasted.

Sen. Merkley is the top Democrat on the subcommittee that controls the USDA’s funding. Earlier this year, he passed legislation urging the USDA to end its kitten testing and adopt out the survivors. Here’s the Senator with WCW and the world famous Kitten Lady discussing the issue:

Thank you, @kittenxlady – and kittens! – for coming by today. Let’s pass the KITTEN Act and protect innocent animals like these three kittens from being euthanized in @USDA testing. pic.twitter.com/YUuPyDTQkO

— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) June 8, 2018

In addition to supporting the KITTEN Act, WCW is fighting this USDA lab’s secrecy. We’re currently suing the agency for refusing to turn over documents about its kitten tests, and suing the state of Maryland for refusing to run ads criticizing the USDA’s so-called “kitten slaughterhouse.”

Tell Congress to pass the bipartisan KITTEN Act (HR 5780/S 3780) to defund these deadly taxpayer-funded experiments and urge USDA to adopt out the cats!