The US has announced it will end controversial research that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of kittens since the 1980s.

The studies in food poisoning, which saw the animals euthanised after being fed infected meat, will cease to use cats with immediate effect.

Critics dubbed these experiments by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) "kitten cannibalism", accusing the US government of putting the demands of food retailers before animal cruelty laws.

Antony Bellotti, founder of the White Coat Waste Project, said he was "elated" that "the USDA’s kitten slaughterhouse has finally been relegated to the litterbox of history."

He added: "We applaud the USDA for its wise decision to permanently end its taxpayer-funded kitten experiments and adopt out the survivors."

The Maryland labs bred around 100 kittens a year for the experiments, infecting the animals with the parasite T gondii that causes toxoplasmosis.