D.C. group claims USDA kills hundreds of kittens a year inside Maryland lab

[packman]

Source: WJLA 7-on-your -side

BELTSVILLE, Md. (WJLA) — A D.C. watchdog group says the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been killing hundreds of kittens that could have been adopted.

White Coat Waste Project obtained pictures inside the U.S.D.A. lab in Beltsville, Maryland where it claims scientists breed and raise 100 kittens a year and then kills them.

White Coat Waste Project, a taxpayer watchdog group, discovered the experiments through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.


Federal documents detail how the Animal Parasitic Disease Lab takes 100 two-month-old kittens and feeds them toxoplasma-infected raw meat. Their feces is collected to harvest a parasite so scientists can help fight against food borne illnesses in humans and then the healthy kittens are euthanized.
...
U.S. Congressman Michael Bishop of Michigan is asking the same questions in (a) new letter to the USDA. Bishop says he's shocked and the project creates life to destroy life.

Link to Congressman Michael Bishop’s letter to the U.S.D.A. at site)


Read more: http://wjla.com/features/7-on-your-side/dc-group-claims-usda-kills-hundreds-of-kittens-a-year-inside-maryland-lab

[LiberalFighter]

1. Hundreds? The article is misleading.

[robbob]

5. A hundred kittens a year.

Equals hundreds of kittens. Depending how long this has been going on, obviously.

[LiberalFighter]

7. The title had hundreds of kittens a year.

The body stated 100 per year.

[robbob]

8. Opps

😳

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. WJLA is owned by Sinclair. I'm not mentioning that to cast aspersions on the OP, but just

as an aside. What you see in the report may not be entirely given from a neutral perspective.

[not fooled]

3. And USDA

is in the con's crosshairs. They think it's largely useless except for, of course, handing out welfare (farm subsidies) to white puke voting farmers.

[Hekate]

4. I doubt they are still "healthy kittens" after they've been fed toxoplasma-laced meat

Would you adopt those kittens knowing they could be carriers of this disease causing organism? Pregnant women are told to not handle any cat-litter boxes due to potential exposure and damage to their fetus. For anyone, getting sick means courses of treatment with antibiotics for a disease "that resolves within months."

In addition, is it "hundreds" (as in the title) or "a hundred" kittens (as in the body of the text?

[TexasBushwhacker]

6. Actually about 11% of the US population has toxoplasmosis

Most people's immune systems handle it without treatment. They may not even notice any symptoms. It can be a problem for people with weak immune systems like the elderly, people getting certain cancer treatments and people with HIV.

[Hekate]

9. Apparently also bad for fetuses, given the urgent warnings to pregnant women...

...about not handling cat litter at all.