Taxpayer, you saved our lives... and we're not kitten you 😸😸😸! Now we're living lives we never thought were in the cards for us. We have tons of toys to play with, are fed lots of yummy treats, and get cuddles every day! We are forever grateful to you Taxpayer.

We never want to see you go. But if you want to unsubscribe, just click here. Taxpayer, you saved us... and we're not kitten you! 😸 You donated to White Coat Waste Project You tweeted/called/emailed your Members of Congress You spread awareness about taxpayer-funded animal testing You saved us from $22 million in wasteful government spending You ended USDA's Kitten Slaughterhouse! Now, we're living our best lives, Taxpayer. And it's thanks to you! We have toys to play with. We're fed lots of yummy treats. We get cuddles from our foster mom who loves us so much! 💜💜💜 We even got to go to Capitol Hill to kiss the Congressmen who led the charge to de-fund our abuse (see below!!) You gave us a second chance, Taxpayer. And we're forever grateful. Xoxo, Delilah and Petite USDA Kitten Slaughterhouse Survivors Picture purrfect: Cats saved from gov't 'kitten slaughterhouse' visit Capitol By Rebecca Shabad and Dareh Gregorian Two lawmakers are the cat's meow on Capitol Hill. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D.-Ore, and Rep. Brian Mast, R.-Fla., who were instrumental in ending the Department of Agriculture's so-called "kitten slaughterhouse," were visited on Thursday by two cats who were spared when the government program was shut down earlier this year. "I'm so glad you're freed," Merkley said in his Senate office while holding survivor Delilah, who was brought to the Capitol along with another cat named Petite by the organization White Coat Waste Project. "I'm so glad you're freed," Merkley said in his Senate office while holding survivor Delilah. The group is a non-profit that combats wasteful government spending on animal testing, and issued a report earlier this year showing U.S Department of Agriculture's lab in Maryland had been performing gruesome and fatal testing on cats. Merkley told NBC News that he'd been unaware of the USDA's decades-old program until advocates presented the information to him. "When I heard about the absolutely unnecessary slaughter of these animals, I just thought that's just wrong, we don't treat animals that way, and let's apply some pressure and try to change it. And so I feel like I was a partner at the last moment after they've done all the real work," he said. The U.S.D.A.'s Agricultural Research Services lab, based in Beltsville, Maryland, had been infecting cats with toxoplasmosis and then euthanizing them since 1982 as part of its effort to combat the foodborne illness. "But these were healthy, healthy adoptable kittens," said WCW president Anthony Bellotti. "Toxoplasmosis is something that is treatable." And some of the testing was downright bizarre - including feeding cats tainted cat meat, the WCW found. Over the course of the program, which cost $22 million, 3,000 cats were killed by the USDA. Delilah was born at the facility in 2013 and Petite was purchased from a breeder in 2015, the WCW said. Both were used to breed kittens for experiments. "It's not often that you necessarily get to just, you know, have in your office and see the results of some of the work that you do," Mast said about the cats. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., another lawmaker who played a role in pressuring the USDA to halt the program, met the two cats in his House office. Mast and Merkley had been championing bipartisan legislation called the Kittens in Traumatic Testing Ends Now — or KITTEN — act when the USDA announced it was ending the program in April. "It's not often that you necessarily get to just, you know, have in your office and see the results of some of the work that you do," Mast said about the cats. "For me, it's nice to have you bring them in here, and to see the results of a little bit of the work that we got to do out there." Fourteen cats that had remained at the facility were adopted out, and Delilah and Petite are currently being fostered and are expected to be adopted soon, the WCW said. "Whether you're an animal lover, or liberty lover, you don't like the government waste factor of this whole thing, this was something that everyone could get behind. It's not a Democrat or Republican issue," Bellotti said. Please urge your Members of Congress to cosponsor Violet's Law to provide a second chance to survivors like Delilah and Petite abused in wasteful government experiments! CONTACT CONGRESS » To stop taxpayer-funded animal tests, we must first stop the $15 billion+ in wasteful government spending. We find, expose, and de-fund wasteful government spending on animal experiments. To change public policy, we unite liberty lovers and animal lovers with hard-hitting investigations and public policy campaigns. DONATE             PO Box 26029 Washington, DC 20001 White Coat Waste Project is a 501(c)(3) bipartisan coalition. Contributions are tax-deductible. Unsubscribe Paid for by The White Coat Waste Project, INC. EIN 46-0856543