http://www.cbs46.com/Global/story.asp?S=4888493

Let's help ACOs, (animal control officers and shelter workers), have a more positive job by getting rid of

gas chambers by calling our state, county and city officials to use humane injection:

"Yes, I Gas Dogs and Cats for a Living.
I'm an Animal Control officer in a very small town in central North Carolina.
I'm in my mid thirties, and have been working for the town in different positions since high school.

There is not much work here, and working for the county provides good pay and benefits for a person like me without a higher education.  I'm the person you all write about how horrible I am.

I'm the one that gasses the dogs and cats and makes them suffer.  I'm the one that pulls their dead corpses out smelling of Carbon Monoxide and throws them into green plastic bags.  But I'm also the one that hates my job and hates what I have to do.

First off, all you people out there that judge me, don't. God is judging me, and I know I'm going to Hell.  Yes, I'm going to hell. I wont lie, it's despicable, cold, cruel and I feel like a serial killer.  I'm not all to blame, if the law would mandate spay and neuter, lots of these dogs and cats wouldn't be here for me to gas.  I'm the devil, I know it, but I want you people to see that there is another side to me the devil Gas Chamber man.
The shelter usually gasses on Friday morning. 

Friday's are the day that most people look forward to, this is the day that I hate, and wish that time will stand still on Thursday night.  Thursday night, late, after nobody's around, my friend and I go through a fast food line, and buy 50 dollars worth of cheeseburgers and fries, and chicken.  I'm not allowed to feed the dogs on Thursday, for I'm told that they will make a mess in the gas chamber, and why waste the food.
So, Thursday night, with the lights still closed, I go into the saddest room that anyone can every imagine, and let all the doomed dogs out out their cages.

I have never been bit, and in all my years doing this, the dogs have never fought over the food.  My buddy and I, open each wrapper of cheeseburger and chicken sandwich, and feed them to the skinny, starving dogs.  They swallow the food so fast, that I don't believe they even taste it.  There tails are wagging, and some don't even go for the food, they roll on their backs wanting a scratch on their bellys.  They start running, jumping and kissing me and my buddy.  They go back to their food, and come back to us.  All their eyes are on us with such trust and hope, and their tails wag so fast, that I have come out with black and blues on my thighs.. They devour the food, then it's time for them to devour some love and peace.  My buddy and I sit down on the dirty, pee stained concrete floor, and we let the dogs jump on us.  They lick us, they put their butts in the air to play, and they play with each other.  Some lick each other, but most are glued on me and my buddy. 

I look into the eyes of each dog. I give each dog a name.
They will not die without a name.
I give each dog 5 minutes of unconditional love and touch.
I talk to them, and tell them that I'm so sorry that tomorrow they will die a gruesome, long, torturous death at the hands of me in the gas chamber.
Some tilt their heads to try to understand.
I tell them, that they will be in a better place, and I beg them not to hate me.
I tell them that I know I'm going to hell, but they will all be playing with all the dogs and cats in heaven.
After about 30 minutes, I take each dog individually, into their feces filled concrete jail cell, and pet them and scratch them under their chins.
Some give me their paw, and I just want to die. I just want to die.
I close the jail cell on each dog, and ask them to forgive me.
As my buddy and I are walking out, we watch as every dog
is smiling at us and them don't even move their heads.
They will sleep, with a full belly, and a false sense of security.
As we walk out of the doomed dog room, my buddy and I go to the cat room.
We take our box, and put the very friendly kittens and pregnant cats in our box.
The shelter doesn't keep tabs on the cats, like they do the dogs.
As I hand pick which cats are going to make it out, I feel like I'm playing God, deciding whose going to live and die.
We take the cats into my truck, and put them on blankets in the back.
Usually, as soon as we start to drive away, there are purring cats sitting on our necks or rubbing against us.
My buddy and I take our one way two hour trip to a county that is very wealthy and they use injection to kill animals.
We go to exclusive neighborhoods, and let one or two cats out at a time.
They don't want to run, they want to stay with us. We shoo them away, which makes me feel sad.
I tell them that these rich people will adopt them, and if worse comes to worse and they do get put down, they will be put down with a painless needle being cradled by a loving veterinarian.
After the last cat is free, we drive back to our town.
It's about 5 in the morning now, about two hours until I have to gas my best friends.
I go home, take a shower, take my 4 anti-anxiety pills and drive to work.. I don't eat, I can't eat.
It's now time, to put these animals in the gas chamber. I put my ear plugs in, and when I go to the collect the dogs, the dogs are so excited to see me, that they jump up to kiss me and think they are going to play.
I put them in the rolling cage and take them to the gas chamber. They know. They just know. They can smell the death.. They can smell the fear.
They start whimpering, the second I put them in the box.
The boss tells me to squeeze in as many as I can to save on gas.
He watches. He knows I hate him, he knows I hate my job.
I do as I'm told. He watches until all the dogs, and cats (thrown in together) are fighting and screaming. The sounds is very muffled to me because of my ear plugs.
He walks out, I turn the gas on, and walk out.

I walk out as fast as I can.  I walk into the bathroom, and I take a pin and draw blood from my hand.  Why? The pain and blood takes my brain off of what I just did.
In 40 minutes, I have to go back and unload the dead animals.  I pray that none survived, which happens when I overstuff the chamber.  I pull them out with thick gloves, and the smell of carbon monoxide makes me sick.  So does the vomit and blood, and all the bowel movements.  I pull them out, put them in plastic bags.

They are in heaven now, I tell myself.  I then start cleaning up the mess, the mess, that YOU PEOPLE are creating by not spay or neutering your animals.  The mess that YOU PEOPLE are creating by not demanding that a vet come in and do this humanely. You ARE THE TAXPAYERS, DEMAND that this practice STOP!

So, don't call me the monster, the devil, the gasser, call the politicians, the shelter directors, and the county people the devil. Heck, call the governor, tell him to make it stop.

As usual, I will take sleeping pills tonight to drown out the screams I heard in the past, before I discovered the ear plugs.  I will jump and twitch in my sleep, and I believe I'm starting to hallucinate. 

This is my life.  Don't judge me. Believe me, I judge myself enough. "

 

 

Animal Advocates Call 'Gas Chambers' Inhumane May 12, 2006 08:33 AM EDT Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version     Miracle Dog: How Quentin Survived the Gas Chamber to Speak for Animals on Death Row—a new book by animal-welfare advocate Randy Grim—tells the story of Quentin (pictured), the Basenji mix that survived the gas chamber at a Missouri pound.     Clayton Kill Shelter   Elsewhere on the Web Death Row Dog Rescue SPOT Society     Video Headlines  more>>  CBS 46 Video Player       Clayton Shelter Kills     Deer in Distress: Who's to Blame?   Clayton Kill Shelter   Delay in deer rescue         (CBS 46 News) --- Public records indicate Metro shelters kill nearly 87-thousand dogs and cats each year.     Of the animals taken in...   Cobb County shelters kill 44.7%. Gwinnett 51.3%. Fulton 52.1%. DeKalb, much higher. 78.9%. That's nearly four out of five... killed.  Several grass roots organizations are taking issue with how many are killed... And 'how' it's being done.  Randy Grim runs two no-kill shelters in St. Louis. Even he knows animal control means killing unwanted animals. But, he calls carbon monoxide chambers "inhumane." Grim says, "...look through a little window, and I could see the fighting, the yelling, the screaming, and one dog having seizures and blood coming out of his nose -- horrible."     Animal Lover Erin Dougherty agrees. She's appalled that Clayton County gases animals several times every week. "It reminded me of World War II and I just thought that it was a travesty."    Randy's buddy is Quentin, a lively Basenji mix who somehow survived the gas chamber. Grim says, "When they opened up the gas chamber, everyone was dead. There were eight dogs. And Quentin was standing on top of a mound of dead dogs, wagging his tail, unphased. "     Now, they tour the country, delivering checks to grass roots organizations. Death Row Dogs will use Randy's five-thousand dollars to rescue 20-dogs. Everyone here knows, it's not enough.    Grim says " We've made so many positive changes in St. Louis, and I'm trying to understand why isn't there progress being made here."     Dekalb County pet lovers put CEO Vernon Jones in the dog house this week, angrily "booing" him over the county's animal control record.   Death Row Dogs' Beth Martin says Jones is actually one of the only officials doing something to help pets. But, she says, "Georgia needs to have a strong spay and neuter program that's publicized statewide."  Beyond that, people meeting Wednesday at Barking Hound Village on Cheshire Bridge Road say GAS chambers are no cheaper than hiring a vet to administer humane, lethal injections. Martin insists, "It's a matter of compassion. It's a matter of awareness and compassion. It's not money."

Death row Dog  Several grass roots organizations are taking issue on how many dogs are killed and how it's done.

If you wish to know everything that has been written about Gas Chambers without having to read through all the articles below,

Here it is summarized: (If Lethal Injection, also called IV or EBI, is less expensive,  and more efficient, and Gas Chamber, also called CO Chambers, less efficient and humane, and  hazardous to personnel, according to the AHA, HSUS and AVMA, NIOSH then why are some states still using Gas Chambers?

Headlines:

Animal Gas Chambers Draw Fire in U.S.
Maryann Mott
for National Geographic News
April 11, 2005

"Doug Fakkema, an animal-euthanasia expert, said that, in theory, the gas chamber doesn't sound bad, but in reality it's awful.
"The animal is in a warm or hot box, usually with other animals. They don't know what's going on. The hiss of the gas is going on inside. They get dizzy, and they panic," he said. Fights can break out, and animals' calls can sometimes be heard.
Today most private and city animal shelters euthanize animals with sodium pentobarbital, a controlled substance that is injected into one of a dog or cat's veins. Animals die in seconds, experts say, and without pain or suffering." "Currently 13 states, including California, Florida, and New York, require animal shelters to perform death by injection, according to the AHA.
In the rural farming community of Enoch, Utah, the animal shelter's brick gas chamber uses carbon monoxide exhaust from an old pickup truck."

From Animal Issues, Volume 32 Number 2, Summer 2001

"The euthanasia method of choice for use in animal shelters is the injection of an overdose of a barbiturate anesthetic called sodium pentobarbital. In API's view, it is the only acceptable method of euthanizing shelter animals." "This method is the most cost-effective and overall least expensive of all euthanasia techniques (according to the Michigan Humane Society, the cost of lethal injection, materials and labor is $2.88 per animal). It does require adequate staff training, and because each animal is handled individually, it is somewhat more emotionally taxing to workers than mass euthanasia methods. The injection process allows shelter staff to provide personal comfort to each animal in its last moments, which may greatly offset the emotional stress. Five states (CA,FL, ME, OR, PA) specify lethal injection (usually of a barbiturate) as the only allowable method of euthanasia, and similar laws are currently being considered in Tennessee and Rhode Island. About 20 states specifically allow lethal injection." " California banned the use of CO gas chambers for euthanasia effective January 1, 2001. Many injection givers initially resisted the change, because injection requires two workers and extended physical contact with the animal, but once they understood the process, they realized it is better for the animal, and actually less stressful for them." "Gas chambers have many limitations which make the method less practical, slower, more dangerous to staff (a shelter worker died of CO poisoning just last year), and ultimately more expensive than lethal injection. Abuse of the chamber is common. While shelter policies commonly require physical separation in individual cages and close observation of the process, in many cases animals are simply shoved into the chamber, the door sealed, the button pushed, and the employee walks away." "Ronald R. Grier and Tom L. Colvin's 1990 Euthanasia Guide for Animal Shelters recommends that all animals should be tranquilized before placement in the chamber -- something that is virtually never done in practice."

Recent Cases:
* "Vermilion Parish, LA. Animals are still euthanized by a regular 6-cylinder gasoline engine that pumps acrid exhaust gas into the small room where they are confined. Even though the gas is pumped through water to cool it a little, the fumes are still hot, irritating, and painful. Their skin and eyes burning, the animals die slowly and horribly." "A shelter should be there to care for animals, to relieve suffering -- not amplify or prolong it. An animal may have already suffered greatly prior to ending up at a shelter, and the unfamiliarity, confinement, and noise of the shelter environment is extremely stressful in and of itself. Therefore, we have an obligation to ensure that needless suffering is not that animal's tragic end to life."


* "Albuquerque, NM. An audit by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) found many serious problems with the care of animals at the two city shelters. The audit team was so alarmed at the conditions that they issued a preliminary report blasting the treatment of animals. HSUS representatives found that dogs were killed by painful direct injections to the heart while conscious, a practice that even the lenient AVMA guidelines condemns as inhumane."

* "At least one community has had a major wake-up call. In Greensboro, NC, frustrated
Sheriff BJ Barnes, upset at learning that more than 75% of the animals entering his shelter were being killed, decided to televise the euthanasia of a dog on his weekly show. Viewers were shocked, but they also got the message: animal overpopulation is everyone's problem.
Adoptions from the local shelter skyrocketed, and local veterinarians
reported an increase in inquiries about spaying and neutering."

"The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) recommends the injection of sodium pentobarbital, prepared specifically for use as a euthanasia product, as the preferred agent for the euthanasia of companion animals. This method, when properly performed, has been found to be the most humane, safest, least stressful, and most professional choice by The HSUS, The American Humane Association, and the American Veterinary Medical Association." "Carbon Monoxide  (CO), when delivered in a properly manufactured and equipped chamber, is a conditionally acceptable method of euthanasia for some animals; however, The HSUS believes it is far less suitable than sodium pentobarbital. The many limitations of CO make the method less practical, considerably slower, and more expensive than lethal injection. Animals under four months of age have shown a resistance to hypoxia (oxygen deficiency). It is absolutely unacceptable to use CO for the euthanasia of dogs and cats who are old, under four months of age, sick, or injured. Because of these limitations, there must always be an acceptable backup method readily available." "Carbon Dioxide Carbon dioxide (CO2) is not acceptable for routine use in animal care and control facilities for the euthanasia of companion animals. However, a commercially manufactured chamber using compressed cylinder CO2 may be acceptable for certain wildlife species. CO2 produced from dry ice or generated from any other method is condemned." "CO must be provided by compressed cylinder gas, be used only in a chamber that has been commercially manufactured for CO euthanasia, and be properly maintained. The chamber must be designed to minimize stress and to allow for the appropriate separation of animals. Chambers must never be overcrowded." Copyright © 1999 The Humane Society of the United States. All rights reserved.


AVMA PANEL 2000/2001 RECOMMENDATIONS: JAVMA, Vol 218, No. 5, March 1, 2001 Report of the AVMA Panel on Euthanasia 677

(Per the Animal Issue in 2001: "The report was revised in 2000; unfortunately, the updated version has significant problems, but nevertheless was passed and published by the AVMA, primarily through the force of will of a single individual who ramrodded it through -- over the reservations of the committee that produced it, as well as the unanimous disapproval of the organization's main governing body. The report fails to address the inappropriateness of CO for animals under 16 weeks of age, and sick, pregnant, injured, or old animals. In spite of the report's own statement that CO2 "may be distressing" especially to cats, it is included as an acceptable method of feline euthanasia."

Per HSUS ( Most recent statement): "HSUS considers the use of CO to be conditionally acceptable as long as certain criteria are followed. However, the many restrictions of this method make it nearly impossible for any shelter that uses the method to comply with recommendations, (HSUS or AVMA, for that matter)."

Per Jenny of Animal Shelter Reform May 2005: "the AVMA's Report on Euthanasia from 2000 was
really not written for shelters, and therefore is not practical in most shelter settings." "laws have passed since 2001 , following pressure by HSUS, local humane groups and concerned individuals and the death of a Chattanooga ACO from CO exposure."
 

 NIOSH, National Institure for Occupational Safety and Health, May 2004 Report noted several other health and safety deficiencies to the staff with the CO Gas Chambers in animal shelter. There were no confined space entry procedures. Respiratory protection was not available. Operating procedures were undefined. There was no hazard communication program.

 Summaries done by Utah Gas Chamber Committee

Vicki Katrinak in our Government Affairs dept. asked me to contact you regarding euthanasia laws and methods, and the HSUS Statement on Euthanasia. We are in the process of finalizing our current statement on euthanasia, which includes a detailed summary of euthanasia methods and direct licensing laws. It should be available for public access in the next month and I will be happy to send it to you when it is available.
In the meantime, I will provide you with our general stance on the issue. I don't know what charts Vicki has sent you so I attached several.

Providing a humane death is one of the most critical responsibilities of those in the animal care and sheltering field. By "humane" we mean that every euthanasia must result in painless unconsciousness, followed by respiratory, then cardiac arrest, and then death.

There are many factors in considering euthanasia methods, including the number and types of animals handled, the number of employees available, the training available for euthanasia personnel, and legal limitations.
Shelter management should evaluate euthanasia procedures frequently to ensure that animals are being handled properly, and that staff is competent, compassionate, and properly trained.

We recommend the intravenous (IV) injection of sodium pentobarbital as the preferred agent for the euthanasia of dogs and cats. This method, when properly performed, has been found to be the most humane, safest, least stressful, and most professional choice by The HSUS, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, American Humane Association, and the National Animal Control Association.

Sodium pentobarbital is a Schedule II barbiturate, which means it is a federally controlled substance; it can only be purchased using a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration and order form, and is subject to federal security and record-keeping requirements. Its use is carefully controlled by state laws and regulations.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an unacceptable method of euthanasia where sodium pentobarbital can be legally obtained by shelters. The many limitations of CO make the method less practical, considerably slower, and more expensive than lethal injection. For those states where shelters cannot legally obtain and adminster sodium pentobarbital, The HSUS considers the use of CO a conditionally acceptable method of euthanasia for some animals when delivered by a commercially manufactured and properly equipped chamber. Only cool bottled, commercial-grade gas must be used; engine or chemically-generated gas is not acceptable due to impurities and heat, which make its use painful and inhumane. The HSUS urges all agencies currently using CO to partner with a local vet who can perform euthanasia by injection and to contact your legislators to inform them of the need for direct licensing.

It is always unacceptable to use CO for the euthanasia of old, sick, or injured animals. They may have poor blood pressure or weak hearts, which may delay the effects of CO, causing them to experience distress prior to unconsciousness. Animals under the age of four months may not have the lung capacity to inhale enough CO to be effective. In pregnant animals, it is likely that the mother will die from exposure to CO before the unborn puppies/kittens. Consequently, it is possible that the puppies/kittens will die as a result of the mother's death (by suffocating to death) rather than from exposure to CO.

There are health risks posed by CO for staff involved in its use and they should be educated on safety measures.

The HSUS is actively working to change state laws to allow access to sodium pentobarbital through direct licensing. The HSUS offers euthanasia and compassion fatigue training around the country and has published an instructional book on euthanasia entitled The HSUS Euthanasia Training Manual. The manual covers euthanasia methods for a variety of animal species including wildlife. To order the manual, please send $22.95 (including shipping and handling) to The HSUS, 2100 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20037; call (202) 452-1100; or order online at www.AnimalSheltering.org .

To see the Carbon Monoxide vs. Sodium Pentobarbital Cost Analysis Worksheet please visit www.animalsheltering.org  or reference Table 14.1 in The HSUS Euthanasia Training Manual.
To see the May 2004 investigation of CO exposures related to the use of CO euthanasia chambers by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention go to www.cdc.gov/niosh/hhe/hhesearch.html .

I hope this information is helpful to you.

Thanks,

Cory

Cory Smith
Program Manager, Animal Sheltering Issues Humane Society of the United States 2100 L St NW, Washington DC 20037
(301) 258-3132
fax (301) 258-3081
casmith@hsus.org
www.AnimalSheltering.org

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