Washington: The US Dept of Agriculture on Tuesday announced it would no longer use cats in research that, according to a watchdog group, involved forced “cannibalism” and resulted in over 3,000 of the animals being put down since 1982. Over three decades later, in a lab in Beltsville, near the capital Washington, scientists fed cats and kittens meat possibly contaminated with the parasite toxoplasma gondii, according to the White Coat Waste Project.
The researchers then tested the cats’ stools to confirm the presence of toxoplasma in the meat. After three weeks, they went on to euthanise the cats even though they were healthy. Over 3,000 cats and kittens were used since 1982, as per WCW.