Can cats be spies too?

Cats possess agile movements and move silently, making them seem like potential spy candidates. Could they really be used as cat spies?

In the 1960s during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, the U.S. attempted to train cats as spies to gather intelligence from the Soviet Union. They implanted batteries and transmitters in the cats’ bodies and placed listening devices in their ears. After a series of training sessions, the hope was that these cats could eavesdrop on conversations in settings like meetings or restaurants.

Throughout the entire “spy cat” program, the United States spent five years and a total of 13 million dollars on research. During the research, they discovered that the biggest challenge was that the cats might leave their mission due to hunger, resulting in the recorded sounds being irrelevant. To address this issue, they even performed surgeries on the cats to reduce their hunger.

Unfortunately, the first official mission ended in tragedy when a taxi hit one of the cats, leading to the failure of the entire program. Ultimately, the United States abandoned the project, keeping it classified until it was declassified in 2001.