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The US Department of Agriculture said it would stop using cats for its research in all the labs of its agricultural research service.
Cats were used as part of the agency's research on the parasite toxoplasma gondii, responsible for toxoplasmosis. The USDA said that the disease is considered one of the leading causes of death from food-borne illness in the United States.
The laboratory that conducted the research tried to reduce its dependence on cats. According to the USDA, no cat had been infected with the parasite nor euthanized since September 2018.
"The research on food safety in ARS is of paramount importance to the agriculture and public we serve," said Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, ARS Administrator, in a statement. communicated. "We are continually evaluating our research and priorities and aligning our resources with issues of highest national priority, and we are excited about the next work of these scientists and this lab."
Research on toxoplasmosis has reached maturity and the USDA has stated that although further research is needed in human health, this area of research is outside the mission of the agency.
USDA employees will adopt 14 cats that have never been infected with the parasite and are still in the ARS lab. Cats will no longer be used in any research protocol in ARS labs, said the USDA.
According to a press release from the office of Oregon Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, the USDA has spent $ 650,000 a year since 1970 to infect and euthanize kittens in the laboratory. Beltsville, Maryland. According to the Merkley office, the kittens were fed raw meat infected with the parasite at 2 months of age and parasitic eggs from their faeces were harvested for further experiments. The kittens were then euthanized at the age of 3 months, according to Merkley.
"The USDA's decision to shoot kittens after their use in research was an archaic practice and horrible treatment, and it is high time to end it," Merkley said in a statement. communicated. "The USDA has made the right decision today and I congratulate them on their willingness to change course.It's a good day for our four-legged friends all across America."
Merkley and California Democratic Congressman Jimmy Panetta were the main sponsors of the KITTEN law, which would have required the end of the use of cats and kittens in USDA experiments that needlessly hurt animals .
SEE ALSO:
Kittens slaughtered in government offices in PG County: a complaint
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