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 (03/07/19)

Photos of cats inside the USDA’s Beltsville, MD experimentation lab obtained by WCW via the Freedom of Information Act.

Last year, after White Coat Waste Project exposed a nightmarish U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) kitten experimentation laboratory in Beltsville, MD, federal lawmakers concerned about government waste and animal protection quickly sprang into action.  The House and Senate introduced the bipartisan Kittens in Traumatic Testing Ends Now (KITTEN) Act to permanently stop the experiments, and Congress enacted related legislation urging the USDA to end its kitten use and adopt out the cats.

Today, as first reported by NBC News, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) re-introduced the KITTEN Act for the new Congressional session with the support of original co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle including Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Will Hurd (R-TX) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) in the House.

Bipartisan group of lawmakers will introduce legislation today to prevent the US Dept. of Agriculture from continuing deadly experiments on kittens. https://t.co/KWJLCPTvoi

— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 7, 2019

Lawmakers propose bill to end federal government’s deadly experiments on kittens https://t.co/tVEIfC3Bpx pic.twitter.com/JzsJeLIZsY

— The Hill (@thehill) March 7, 2019

Today, @SenJeffMerkley and I are introducing the bipartisan, bicameral #KITTENAct to end the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) practice of killing kittens after they’re used in agency testing. https://t.co/nh1xHEy2tE

— Rep. Jimmy Panetta (@RepJimmyPanetta) March 7, 2019

The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture is WAY out of line breeding cats just to feed them parasite-ridden raw meat and then kill them even though they’re perfectly healthy. Our bipartisan KITTEN Act will put an end to this abusive and unnecessary practice for good.https://t.co/NIGqEiP5Q5

— Rep. Brian Mast (@RepBrianMast) March 7, 2019

The bill comes as the grassroots campaign to end these experiments continues to heat up. Last week, WCW’s ad campaign exposing the USDA’s kitten experiments launched on trains and buses that service the Maryland area where the lab is located. WCW’s lawsuit against the USDA for refusing to release documents about the kitten lab is also ongoing.