To date, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service has been killing kittens in Beltsville, MD.

· First, USDA buys 50-100 kittens from a breeder in Iowa.

· Then USDA gives the kittens food poisoning and collects a stool sample.

· Two weeks later, they kill and incinerate the kittens.

​Since 1982, they’ve killed nearly 3,000 kittens this way. And despite USDA’s claims that they’re looking to reduce animal tests, these abuses continue year after year.

To be clear, USDA staff are only killing the kittens because USDA doesn’t need them anymore once they have the stool sample.

Put another way, the USDA sees these kittens merely as used test tubes to be killed and dumped when they’re still just a few months old.

There is no question that these kittens can be safely rehomed. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC), and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have confirmed that cats and kittens exposed to the virus in question—the Toxoplasma parasite—can be easily treated for this parasite.

All these kittens need is a standard course of routine antibiotics, and then they can be adopted by someone who will care for them.

Shelters and rescues around the country treat and adopt out tens of thousands of animals every year that are much sicker than these cats.

Here’s where you can help these kittens.

Send an email to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to tell him this is unacceptable. These helpless kittens should be adopted and not discarded like trash. You can send your email through this page on our website. Just fill in your details, amend or keep the existing copy we included for you, and hit send. With your help these kittens can recover from the trauma of the lab and live happy and healthy lives in their forever homes.