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I met Alfonso Cabrera on March 29, minutes after he became a U.S. citizen. He was joyful – even though I told him I wouldn't have space to put his photo in print, he wanted to pose with red, white and blue balloons and his certificate of citizenship and insisted I take a picture.

The United States Department of Agriculture has announced it will end all experiments on kittens at its Maryland laboratory after a bipartisan bill filed last month described the practice as "taxpayer-funded kitten slaughter."

The U.S.

Washington (CNN) - The Agriculture Department announced Tuesday it is discontinuing its practice of infecting kittens with parasites for research purposes.

The department's Agricultural Research Service had been using kittens to conduct research on the Toxoplasma gondii parasite. According to the department, the parasite "causes toxoplasmosis, a disease considered to be a leading cause of death from foodborne illness in the United States, especially for individuals with weak immune systems such as children and HIV patients."

The USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) announced Tuesday that it will refocus its toxoplasmosis research, and that "the use of cats as part of any research protocol in any ARS laboratory has been discontinued and will not be reinstated." Fourteen cats that are currently part of the research program will also be adopted out to USDA employees, according to the statement.

Following an intense year-long White Coat Waste Project (WCW) campaign, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has just announced it is ending all cat experiments and adopting out the 14 cats remaining at its laboratory.

Facing mounting pressure, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday it will cease the controversial practice of laboratory test research using cats.