NEWS AND VIEWS: CATS Act is an acronym for Cat Abuse in Testing Stops Act. It’s nice to know that the members of Congress who came together to introduce this proposed law thought about naming it in such a way that it spells the word “cats”. That’s quite a nice touch. It’s a very specific act which is going through America’s federal legislative process although it has quite a long way to go before it becomes law in America. It has to be approved by the House of Representatives, the Senate and then the president.
The VA’s continued use of taxpayer dollars to conduct painful and wasteful experiments on cats and kittens is unacceptable. I helped introduce the bipartisan CATS Act today to bring these barbaric tests to an end once and for all! pic.twitter.com/mOBRyBINKR
— Rep. Brian Mast (@RepBrianMast) December 3, 2020
People will be hopeful that it will become law. There is no reason why it shouldn’t be. Common sense dictates that where there is a necessity for compassion towards animals and the prevention of unnecessary harm a proposed law should in fact become enacted law.
The VA’s deadly cat experiments are sickening. You don’t have to be a cat owner like I am to recognize that.
Today I’m proud to introduce the CATS Act with @RepBrianMast, an Army veteran, to stop the VA’s cruel and unnecessary tests on cats.
— Dina Titus (@repdinatitus) December 3, 2020
I can’t find the actual words of the bill currently being debated. It would be nice to read it. I’m told by the Green Matters website (and a previous article I wrote) that it is a bill designed to stop the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) experimenting on kittens and cats to investigate incontinence and dysfunctional voiding.
The watchdog organisation White Coast Waste Project secretly investigated “painful and invasive” experiments in VA laboratories in Cleveland, Los Angeles and Louisville. They’ve spent more than $9 million on the experiments which I presume are designed to improve the lives of military veterans injured in combat or while in service. These ghastly experiments included severing the spines of cats and inserting artificial stool into their anuses. They were killed after the experiments and dissected. The experiments were said to “better understand the sleep problems, constipation and incontinence in humans”.
I don’t know whether this act is designed to deal with wider issues (and it probably is) than just the activities of the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is certainly targeted at a specific, inhumane activity: animal testing at a government agency which is unjustified and cruel.
The bill was introduced by Dina Titus (US Representative NV 1st District since 2013) and Rep. Brian Mast (and others?). Let’s wish the bill well on its journey through the legislative process and hope that the election of Joe Biden will assist. He’s an animal lover as is his doctor wife Jill.
