A bipartisan group of lawmakers is seeking information on cat experiments at the Department of Veterans Affairs that were recently uncovered by a taxpayer watchdog.
Reps. Dina Titus, a Nevada Democrat, and Brian Mast, a Florida Republican, led 29 other members of Congress in sending a letter to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie on Tuesday expressing “grave concerns regarding painful and outdated cat testing” at the department.
“We understand from materials recently released under the Freedom of Information Act, including troubling videos and photographs, that the Cleveland VA has spent at least $3.4 million in taxpayer funds from the VA and NIH since 2016 to purchase dozens of cats, perform invasive surgeries on them, damage their spinal cords, and ultimately kill them for tests related to incontinence and constipation,” they wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the Washington Examiner. “Records show that some of these cats exhibited distress, seizures, bloody urine, and depression, and at least one was euthanized due to surgery complications.”
“As you know, a landmark National Academies report recently determined that most VA dog testing is unnecessary. Likewise, we are concerned that the VA’s use of cats for invasive and terminal taxpayer-funded research may not be warranted,” they added.
The lawmakers, many of whom also signed a letter inquiring about the Food and Drug Administration’s canine research in July, went on to ask for details and information on “all active VA cat experimentation projects,” including those at the Louisville and Los Angeles VA facilities.
The request comes after a Freedom of Information Act request filed by taxpayer watchdog White Coat Waste Project uncovered never-before-seen photos and videos last month showing that the Cleveland VA has been conducting experiments on cats for years with taxpayer money. According to the group, the VA plans to kill 35 cats as part of its current projects, and invoices showed the department “buys a batch of cats each August and September, meaning that the next delivery is coming up soon.”
“The VA’s invasive and deadly cat experiments are sickening. You don’t have to be a cat owner like I am to recognize that,” Titus said in a statement. “I’m proud that the House recently passed the language I drafted with Army veteran Congressman Mast to eliminate taxpayer funding for the VA’s cruel and unnecessary dog testing. I’ll continue to work to end these similarly abusive tests on cats and redirect VA resources to humane research tools that will help improve veterans’ lives.”
“The VA’s continued use of taxpayer dollars to conduct painful and invasive experiments on cats is unacceptable,” Mast added. “These tests are unnecessary and they must come to an end. It’s time we got some answers!”
“Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to pay millions for VA bureaucrats to buy healthy kittens, cripple them, drill into their skulls, and even videotape their abuse in outdated and barbaric constipation tests and other cat experiments. We applaud Reps. Dina Titus, Brian Mast, and their colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their outstanding leadership to end these wasteful cat experiments that are opposed by most taxpayers and squander precious resources needed for veterans’ care,” Justin Goodman, vice president of advocacy and public policy at WCWP, said.
A spokesperson for the VA, however, pushed back on concerns from the lawmakers and pointed to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine study referenced in the letter, which found “that using laboratory dogs in research at the VA is scientifically necessary” for a “few areas of current biomedical research.”
“The cat research in Cleveland is directed at reversing complications experienced by veterans who have sustained life-threatening spinal cord injuries,” the spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “Attempts to ban VA animal research are rooted in emotion — not science.”
Spending legislation signed into law last year ordered the department to “drastically restrict wasteful and inhumane testing on dogs, cats, and primates” after it came under fire for controversial canine experiments. The bill also asked the VA to come up with a plan to “eliminate or reduce” animal research by December 2025.
Other federal agencies have received backlash for testing on cats. The Department of Agriculture ended all of its cat experiments in 2019 and moved to adopt out the remaining felines after widespread criticism.
