"Operation Acoustic Kitty" was a classified CIA project in the 1960s designed to use domestic cats as mobile surveillance devices. In this episode, we audit the Directorate of Science & Technology's attempt to surgically implant microphones into a cat's ear canal—and why the project was scrapped in 1967 after field tests proved cats are functionally untrainable for espionage.

We cover:

• The Tech: Turning a tail into an antenna and the spine into a transmitter.
• The Cost: How they spent $20 million (inflation-adjusted) on one cat.
• The Failure: The tragic (and brief) first mission in a park.
• The Declassified Report: The official conclusion that "cats have no desire to please."

The weirdest chapter in Cold War history.
https://blog.catcognition.com/operation-acoustic-kitty-cia-spy-cat/
 
Key Topics: Operation Acoustic Kitty, CIA History, Cold War Espionage, Animal Spies, Declassified Files, Weird History.

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