[link to www.nbcnews.com (secure)]

Less than 50%

""The USDA's decision to slaughter kittens after they are used in research is an archaic practice and horrific treatment, and we need to end it," Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., the Senate bill's lead sponsor, said in a statement to NBC News. The agency has been breeding kittens in Beltsville, Maryland, and infecting them with a parasite that can cause toxoplasmosis, a food-borne illness. Scientists harvest the parasites from their stool for two to three weeks, and then euthanize and incinerate the cats.

The agency has said animal rights advocates' claim they've been experimenting on 100 cats annually is overblown, but a USDA administrator told Congress last year that "2,988 cats have been used in these research efforts that began in 1982."




Where's a good old fashioned cataclysmic event when we need it.