The current legislative session brings another opportunity to pass Grace’s Law, also known as House Bill 788. Grace’s Law is named after a hound who survived gassing in the now-defunct Liberty county gas chamber. The Georgia Voters for Animal Welfare (GVAW) estimates that at least 11 gas chambers still operate in Georgia, some illegally.
It may shock some animal-lovers that their tax dollars are still being used to kill shelter pets by this outmoded and inhumane method. As the no kill movement gathers momentum, citizens are demanding change, and an important one is to end the gratuitous suffering caused to animals killed in shelters. “Euthanasia” is a gross misnomer for the killing of pets as a means of population control. It is doubly unacceptable to use the term to describe a method in which animals can experience prolonged and extreme distress. Rabbi and Macon City Councilman Larry Schlesinger witnessed the gassing of seventeen dogs and was instrumental in the dismantlement of the Macon chamber. He wrote of the experience:
"The sounds of shrilled panic and desperation that I heard through the gas chamber's thick cinderblock walls clearly indicated to me that those canines were quite alert and conscious that something terribly out of the ordinary was happening to them. Their chorus of 'squealings' continues to haunt me, and as a result, I am thoroughly convinced that there is nothing at all 'humane' about this practice."
The number of gas chambers in the state is shrinking. The no kill movement is growing. It is time for Georgians to close the legal loopholes that allow the continued gassing of pets. If you’ve never lobbied for anything before, fear not: GVAW has prepared detailed instructions. Act now for a more humane Georgia. The animals are depending on you.
The following still use the gas chamber to kill pets, and there may be others:
1. City of Ashburn (In Turner County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)
2. Butts County Animal Control
3. Cobb County Animal Control
4. City of Cordele (Crisp County)
5. City of Cuthbert (In Randolph County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)
6. Haralson County Animal Shelter
7. City of Hawkinsville (In Pulaski County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)
8. Henry County Animal Control
9. City of Lakeland (In Lanier County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)
10. Mitchell County Animal Control
11. City of Vienna Animal Shelter (In Dooly County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)
While banning the gas chamber won't necessarily save lives at first, a pyrrhic victory is better than abject failure any day.
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Comments
I am all for no-kill solutions and humane euthanizing of sick or dying animals, but do you have a solution for the ferral dogs and especially cats that cannot be placed? I worked for a vet for many years, and had wonderful clients that would try to trap the wild cats on their property to have them fixed and then release them to live a normal life in the wild. Do you know how hard it is to get a wild cat anesthetized?? Have you ever had a wild cat attack you?? It is no joke, and unfortunately in larger counties, like Henry where I live, gassing them down is the only way to keep the poputlation under control. It is out of hand here. People cannot afford spaying and neutering. Lets focus on getting the government to pay for more sterilization to weed out the probelm instead of making it worse by eliminating the only safe (for humans)way of destroying a dangerous animal. But I am not for gassing healthy pets!! Euthanasia of any kind should be for the very sick and dangerous only.
Veterinarians at spay-neuter clinics across the country spay and neuter feral cats on a daily basis. In general, caregivers bring the animals in still in the humane trap in which they caught them. The cat can be given a sedative intramuscularly while still in the trap, then removed and placed under general anesthesia. Your argument that killing ferals with the cruel and outmoded gas chamber is necessary because they are difficult to handle holds no water. The vast majority of shelters across the country do not use the gas chamber. The better ones have TNR programs for feral cats. Those still using the old discredited 'catch and kill' model get their killing done with injections of barbiturates. It is not possible to eliminate feral cats by rounding them up and killing them. If it were, shelters would have done so already. In general, feral cats are not dangerous. They would rather just be left alone.
Good job covering this, Valerie. I'm crossing my fingers that you will have good news to report on this important issue.
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