• A new White Coat Waste (WCW) investigation has uncovered that the taxpayer-funded University of Missouri-Columbia (UMC) torments cats in barbaric experiments, and even egregiously obtained cats from an animal shelter to abuse as blood donors by draining dangerous amounts of blood.
• New records obtained by WCW expose National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded experiments at UMC that involve inflicting spinal cord injuries on cats, drilling into cats’ skulls, and deliberately breeding cats to suffer from kidney disease.
• Records uncovered by WCW show that the shelter cats abused by UMC were microchipped, meaning they were likely lost or abandoned pets.
• One NIH grant is slated to fund UMC’s kitten cruelty through at least April 2026.
• While other Trump agencies end tests on pets and the NIH’s ‘animal testing czar’ Nicole Kleinstreuer claims to be “working tirelessly” to “phase out” cat testing, WCW’s investigations of NIH funding prove otherwise. 
• WCW’s top priority for the Trump administration is to shutter all of the federal government’s cruel, wasteful cat labs.

UPDATE (3/17/26): Following a flood of calls from concerned taxpayers to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s office about these NIH-funded kitten tests at the University of Missouri, his agency changed a voicemail message to state, “Thank you for calling Domino’s Pizza,” to confuse and mock concerned citizens.  HHS’s childish prank backfired and went viral after WCW exposed it during a U.S. Senate hearing this week.

BREAKING:

Behind-the-scenes video reveals the moment we played HHS’s “Domino’s Pizza” voicemail trolling taxpayers who called to ask them to shut down NIH-funded kitten experiments.

Senator Ernst: “That’s not okay.”

“Actually makes my stomach turn.”

Here’s the scoop:… https://t.co/K3uBwjUbdM pic.twitter.com/3iQcxc4yOM

— White Coat Waste (@WhiteCoatWaste) March 19, 2026

UPDATE (3/12/26): In response to White Coat Waste’s (WCW) investigation, the University of Missouri-Columbia (UMC) has admitted that it obtained cats from a local shelter to cage and abuse as blood donors and that those cats are still confined at the university. 

UMC also admitted that, in October 2025, it purchased four more cats from notorious kitten mill Marshall Bioresources to maim and kill in NIH-funded spinal cord experiments uncovered by WCW. Those cats are still alive and haven’t been subjected to any invasive procedures yet. WCW is calling on UMC and the NIH to cancel the tests and release the cats. 

The Gateway Pundit and World Animal News covered the new developments.

EXPOSED: Taxpayer-Funded Mizzou Lab Caught Harvesting Blood from Former Pets in Cruel Program – Fauci-Era NIH Grant Still Funding Deadly Cat Tests https://t.co/JjlahCQGqZ

— The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) March 12, 2026

 

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ORIGINAL POST (3/3/26)

White Coat Waste’s (WCW) ongoing Kittengate investigations have exposed how the National Institutes of Health (NIH), under ‘animal testing czar’ and Deputy Director Nicole Kleinstreuer, is still wasting your hard-earned tax dollars on experiments that torment and kill cats, despite claims that the agency is “working tirelessly” to “phase out” pet testing.

Citing WCW’s work, Congress is demanding that they be defunded immediately.

Now, new documents obtained by WCW reveal that the NIH is funding cat abuse at the University of Missouri-Columbia (UMC) — which, in recent years, has even rounded up cats from an animal shelter to torture in its labs.

WCW’s investigation obtained documents through state and federal open records requests proving that UMC has active NIH funding to abuse 91 cats in experiments that examine the effect of spinal cord injuries on swallowing and motor function. 

In these experiments that are currently funded through April 2026, cats are deliberately inflicted with spinal cord injuries. Then, their skulls are cut open, and they’re forced to hyperventilate through ventilators pumped with carbon dioxide, cough with tubes in their throats, and endure painful shocks delivered directly to their voice boxes.  

This lab is supported by a whopping $528,052 in NIH grants — straight out of taxpayers’ pockets.

Documents obtained by WCW also reveal that UMC’s labs recently maintained a colony of cats to abuse as blood donors, up to 15 of whom were homeless cats acquired from Jefferson City’s public animal shelter. Records show that the shelter cats abused by UMC were microchipped, meaning they were likely lost or abandoned pets.

UMC’s records show that these donor cats were at risk of suffering side effects, including anemia and dangerously low blood levels. After spending up to two years in UMC’s lab, these cats could have been killed if deemed “medically necessary,” rather than freed to loving homes.

The federal government still allows shelter animals and abandoned pets to be rounded up by labs and abused in taxpayer-funded experiments, as another WCW investigation previously exposed.

Eighteen states prohibit public shelters from surrendering pets to laboratories in a practice known as “pound seizure.” Missouri is not among them.

Another recent NIH-funded experiment at UMC intentionally bred cats to suffer from polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a painful, debilitating genetic condition that causes fluid-filled cysts to develop in the kidneys and progressively deteriorates organ function. 

Under an NIH grant that expired on January 31, 2026, 32 cats were slated to be bred with this disease.  

Kittens were subjected to an experimental diet at just a few weeks old and underwent repeated CT scans, blood draws, and urine tests to assess kidney function. Adverse effects of this diet are widespread, including diarrhea, gastric distress, infection, inflammation, and hematomas.  

After the experiment concluded, many of the kittens were killed by overdose and dissected.

There was also a hefty taxpayer-funded price tag for this cruelty: $214,570. 

These experiments uncovered by WCW are just the latest examples of how the NIH wastes millions of dollars on outdated, unnecessary animal testing, even as public pressure to end it grows.

Other WCW exposés have revealed ongoing horrific Fauci-funded pet abuse at UMC in which hundreds of dogs have tick-filled containers glued to their skin to infect them with disease, and NIH-funded dog colonies where canines are bred to suffer from fatal genetic disorders, injected, shocked, and more.  

WCW exposed how the @NIH is still wasting your tax $ to fund maximum pain experiments on beagles bought from a disgraced breeder that’s been cited for 300+ violations & whose head vet just had his license suspended.

Is this how you want your money spent? @bryanpolcyn @fox6now pic.twitter.com/u0s6EdnKkS

— White Coat Waste (@WhiteCoatWaste) October 8, 2025

WCW will continue to hold the NIH accountable and lead the fight to defund the agency’s cat cruelty, including working with lawmakers to pass the Preventing Animal Abuse and Waste (PAAW) Act. 

It’s time to end the taxpayer-funded torture and turn every lab cat into a lap cat once and for all.