Federally Ban Gas Chambers

Many states still allows shelter pets to be euthanized by putting dogs and cats together in a small metal box to suffocate to death as the chamber adds more and more CO2. This barbaric method is more expensive and damages the health of other adoptable animals and the shelter employees. It takes around 20 minutes for pets to die this way; In the chamber, they expirience convulsions, angina, muscle spasms and vomitting. Fights break out. Often, there are survivors who are either set free or gassed again. Sometimes these chambers explode or leak, killing people and animals. I intend to send this petition to the GA legislature next Spring (after the election when everything is calmer and I'm more likely to get a response) and follow it up with the following letter and a list of state laws that have already been passed on the issue:

            Dear (name),

What if I told you that there was a legislation you could pass that would save money, improve our nation’s image, and protect many Americans from harm. I am sure you are aware that your state allows animals to be euthanized via gas chambers. This method of euthanasia is costly, barbaric, dangerous, and puts unnecessary burdens on shelter employees.

                With our national debt climbing and climbing to ridiculous amounts, we can’t spare a single dime. Why, then, are 31 states allowing their shelters to use a method of euthanasia that is barbaric and more expensive than other methods?  Currently, it costs around 2 billion tax dollars per year to capture, shelter, kill and dispose of unlucky shelter pets. For example, it costs $ 4.98 to kill one shelter companion by Gas Chamber with a tranquilizer administered beforehand. It costs $4.66 if one wants the companion to spend his/her last moments in agony. Euthanasia by injection (EBI), which is considered more humane, costs $2.29 per shelter companion. With EBI, only feral animals need tranquilizer or some sort of restraint before being given the drug. Even with the added cost of tranquilizer, it is still cheaper than gassing. That difference may not seem like a lot, but when you take into account that 6 to 8 million pets are put in shelters each year and, of that 6-8 million, 4 million have to be killed, it really adds up. It would cost $19,920,000 to tranquilize and gas 4 million pets. Please note that these figures do not factor in the pets who need multiple gassings to die. Companions who are very young, very old, pregnant, healthy or have respiratory issues usually take longer to die, sometimes surviving his/her first session in the chamber. Considering that 90% of shelter pets are healthy and the average age for a shelter pet is 18 months, who knows for sure how many survive. There is no formal data, but it seems to me there’d be enough warrant a law against gas chambers. To give 4 million pets an EBI, it would cost $9,160,000. That is $10,760,000 every year that could go towards something else, like paying off debts. If it is absolutely mandatory to kill shelter pets, why not at least do it in the most economical way? Of course, it takes no skill to fill a chamber with pets, and switching to EBI could put some people out of the job. However, some organizations, such as The American Humane Association and the SPCA, offer to certify people for EBI for a small fee. These courses are typically completed within a few days, so it wouldn’t be too difficult for one to get certified.

Many states and animal rights groups have already decided that EBI is the way. Gas Chambers are considered inhumane by The Association of Shelter Vets, The American Humane Association, The ASPCA and many other organizations. Based on a census conducted in October 2013, Arizona, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Washington, Wyoming, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Maine, Maryland, Alabama, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Indiana, and Virginia have banned gassing for civil pets. Many (including Arizona, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wyoming) have banned the practice altogether, even for feral companions. West Virginia has forbidden new gas chambers to be implemented, but the state’s Grandfather Clause allows for shelters to use their old chambers. Instead of waiting for each state to pass an individual bill, I propose we stop beating around the bush and put a federal ban on all gas chambers.  Ghandi once said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way they treat their animals and children.” So, not only do we murder animals when we have too many, but we allow it to happen in cruel ways. Is that how we want America to be presented? As a country that uses Hitler’s methods to maintain our pet population?

All of these states banned gas chambers for a good reason. You see, when the chambers were first introduced, they replaced drowning and burying companions alive. The day before the pets are to be gassed, most shelters do not feed or offer water to them in order to make “clean-up” faster. “clean-up” meaning when the employee has to empty the chamber of corpses and clean up all of their waste, blood, and other fluids. Animals are packed as tightly as possible to save gas. However, over packing the chamber often leads to more survivors. Fights break out between them. Dogs and cats are often put in together, as well. Fighting is a chain reaction; it only leads to more violence. It is a common misconception that the animals pass out and die quickly in the chambers. They pass out only after their organs have shut down, which is agonizingly painful. In the chamber, they experience convulsions, muscle spasms, vomiting and acute pain in their hearts, which spreads throughout their bodies when their blood cannot carry enough oxygen to their hearts. Claustrophobia, which worsens as they watch their friends die—corpse lying over corpse in a shameful bundle of wasted life. Helplessness.  Before they can nurse their injuries from the first round of fights, they realize there’s a bigger problem—they can’t breathe. The air is getting thinner and thinner with every breath. The living pets’ fur is matted with the blood, urine, and feces of the dead around them. Convulsing, choking to death. It takes about 30 minutes, sometimes more, to die….if that particular companion is lucky. “Euthanasia” means “mercy killing”. Is there really anything merciful about that? As of March 2014, 50 states passed legislation to make animal cruelty a felony. How could this slow, painful method of euthanasia not be considered animal cruelty? All of this suffering could be avoided by an EBI given by someone who is registered to administer one. The injection consists of Sodium Pentobarbital, a drug which suppresses the central nervous system. In fact, this same drug is used in smaller doses as an anesthetic for humans. 3 to 5 seconds after the injection, the companion will lose consciousness and a clinical death is pronounced in 2 to 5 minutes. They lose all brain function before vital organs shut down, making it painless. So, as a living, breathing being with a threshold for pain yourself, which way would you rather die? If your pet were lost and you couldn’t find him/her in time, which way would you rather the shelter dispose of him/her?

Additionally, gas chambers pose a threat to workers, other shelter pets, and even regular people who are visiting. CO2, the gas most commonly used to kill pets with odorless, colorless, flammable, explosive and hard to detect. Once it’s in the air, there is no escaping it. The shelter workers who unload the chamber are at risk for CO2 poisoning, asphyxiation, kidney damage and coma. In 2000, a worker in Tennessee asphyxiated to death while working the chamber. In 2008, in Lincoln County, North Carolina, another chamber exploded and an animal control officer had to be hospitalized. In 2009, in Iredell County, North Carolina, an “explosion-proof” chamber exploded. The chamber is a danger, not only to the workers, but to the other pets who are waiting for adoption and people who come to adopt aforementioned pets. Imagine you and your family are visiting a shelter to adopt a new family member, when suddenly, there is an explosion. If these explosions can kill an adult, what could it do to your children? What if your spouse is hurt or killed and is unable to work for a while? Victims of these explosions could sue. Do we really want to clog the American justice system with lawsuits that could’ve been avoided?   What about the other companions available at the shelter who could’ve been adopted? It isn’t fair to them that their lives got cut short due to inferior and inhumane euthanasia methods. Nothing is a perfect; if perfection existed, we wouldn’t have to kill healthy pets. However, we owe it to the brave shelter workers and their communities (pets are a part of that community) to be as safe and civilized as possible. There is no record of an incident where a worker, other pet, or civilian was harmed while an EBI was being administered, even with aggressive companions. EBI can be injected while sedated, restrained, or even snuck into the pet’s food, if needed.

Gas chambers also have negative psychological effects on shelter workers. As animal lovers, many shelter employees want to comfort the pet in his/her last moments. Let’s give them the dignity they deserve. A shelter employee from North Carolina published a letter, which wound up all over the internet, detailing how much being the dreaded “gas man” affected him emotionally, socially, psychologically. People judge him and assume he is a horrible person, which impairs his ability to get a new job or move up in the world. For the rest of his life, his resume will be blemished. He has a hard time finding work for his education level, so he has had many menial jobs, but county jobs provide better pay and benefits.  He hates his job so much that, the night before gas day, he buys a bunch of cheap burgers and other food (remember, he is not allowed to feed or provide water for the animals the day before the gassing to avoid messes and because the shelter feels it is a “waste of food”.) and he goes to the shelter. Then, he feeds all the animals who are scheduled to be gassed, plays with them, and “give[s] each dog five minutes of unconditional love” and a name. The dogs have never fought over the food or bitten him. In fact, some fare more interested in receiving love and attention. Since the shelter is not as strict on cats, he takes pregnant cats and kittens to the rich neighborhoods, in hopes that someone will take them in. The Gas Man says that he “feel[s] like...[he] is playing God”. He goes on to say that he “knows…[he’s] going to hell” and feels “like a serial killer”Aside from his obvious hatred of what he has to do to keep his family afloat, please note that he has to take four anti-anxiety pills, along with the 70% of Americans who need a prescription to make it through a normal day. Also, he needs a sleeping pill to fall asleep because he is haunted by the pitiful cries of animals dying slowly. Do you really want more Americans to have to be medicated?   Even with the medicine, he has to go into the bathroom to ”take a pin and draw blood from…[his] hand”. This man literally has to self-harm to keep his mind off of the emotional reaction his job causes. Nobody should have to be this disturbed by making a living if it can be prevented.  Even if you aren’t an animal-lover, as a congressman, it is your job to protect your human constituents.

As I mentioned before, some animals survive. Daniel, a beagle mix from Alabama, survived the chamber. Surely you’ve heard of his struggle on the news and all over the internet. Even after the barbaric atrocities he faced, they opened the chamber door to find him wagging his tail. On New Years, Daniel wagged his tail on his float in the Rose Parade to shed light on the awful thing that happened to him and is happening to other incredible pets as we speak. Quentin, who looks very much like the beloved children’s character, Scooby-Doo, was just a puppy when he was sentenced to death. He was found alive on top of seven of his dead friends. His new owner, Mr. Grimm, published a book about this remarkable survivor and toured the country to raise awareness about his near death experience. Andrea, a young black cat from Utah, survived, not once, but twice, in the gas chamber. A shelter employee gassed her, only to discover that, after one gassing, she was still alive. So, the worker gassed her again. Assuming she was dead after the second attempt, Andrea was placed in a bag in the freezer. Later on, when a shelter worker was putting another body away, he heard a “meow” and noticed that Andrea was still alive. The workers were so inspired by her determination, bravery and will to live she was granted a second chance at life.  Grace was locked into the same fate. After she was rescued, she and her owners lead the Amazing Grace Caravan, which toured from New Jersey to the Hinesville, Georgia, where Grace would’ve died. Supporters were welcomed to sign and leave a permanent handprint on a donated chamber. Grace was the miracle who changed the laws in Georgia. If one dog can change and entire state’s mind, why do we still treat them like they don’t matter? More and more, we are considering pets to be members of our family. Let’s give them some dignity! It is time we made a federal law against animal Gas Chambers and made EBI the only legal method of euthanasia. Grandfather Clauses, like West Virginia has, should be outlawed. I say we should give the shelters two months to hire someone who is certified to administer lethal injections or to give their current gas chamber man a chance to get certified. In that time, shelters will not be allowed to euthanize any animals. All gas Chambers should be taken from their respective shelters and destroyed. If a shelter is caught using a gas chamber after the law is passed, the director and all employees operating the chamber should face a federal count of animal cruelty for each set of animal remains that is found. If a shelter is found to have kept their chamber, rather than destroying it, they should be fined. Representatives from local animal rights organizations would drop in for random surprise inspections to ensure that the gas chambers were gone by the decided date. Then, they would continue to inspect at random times to ensure that the euthanasia process was being carried out humanely and legally. The privilege of ensuring animal safety should not be given to any group that has a history of misusing funds or being cruel to animals, such as PETA. It sounds like a lot of work, but it needs to be done. Every minute we put this off is wasted money and wasted suffering, for both pets and people. America prides itself on greatness. Let’s show the world how great we are to all of our citizens and their furry friends by making EBI the only legal method for euthanasia! Thank you for your time and understanding!