Back in 2019, WCW got the USDA to retire and release the feline survivors of its $22 million “Kitten Slaughterhouse” lab.
This was the first time we know of that the USDA retired survivors after experiments ended, and we want to ensure that it’s not the last.
So, earlier this year, Congress passed WCW-backed legislation directing the USDA to develop an agency-wide lab animal retirement policy like other agencies have already done because, so far, the USDA has refused to do so.
New documents obtained by WCW through a successful lawsuit against the USDA underscore why this policy is so important.
USDA records show that because they didn’t have a lab animal adoption policy in place, the cats had to be sold as “excess property” for $1 each, no different than a stapler, paper clips or rolls of tape.
Following WCW’s #GiveThemBack campaign, other agencies like the National Institutes of Health, Dept. of Veterans Affairs and Food and Drug Administration have robust policies in place outlining policies and procedures for adopting out survivors to individuals, rescues and sanctuaries, instead of selling them off like surplus office equipment.
The newly-reintroduced Violet’s Law would ensure that USDA joins these agencies.