800 Dead Cats Found On Ranch

Authorities raided a chicken farm near here and found 800 dead cats in piles, killed for U.S. laboratory research.

But they closed the operation for having too many dead animals and for mishandling chemicals, not for animal cruelty.

Ranch workers told health officials the cats’ throats were cut after pieces of wood were stuck in their mouths to keep them still. The bodies were preserved with injected formaldehyde.

Animal rights activists have long protested that U.S. schools and laboratories buy thousands of dead cats each year from Mexico for research.