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As of 2009, The American Humane Association says about 7 million animals end up in shelters every year.

Seven million was such a shocking number we started to wonder what happens when the shelter pets are not adopted? In doing some research on the subject we came upon this truthfully disturbing article by: Sica, Nicole J.., Titled: “Gassing the Conscience of Texas.” We have posted this article below:

Kimberley Intino, director of the Shelter Services Program for the Humane Society of the United States, advises there are currently seven states that have legislation pending on proposals to ban carbon monoxide gas chamber use in animal shelters as a means of euthanasia; Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Intino says that in her six years at the HSUS, this is the first time multiple states have introduced such legislation. Unfortunately, Texas is not one of them.

New Mexico’s bill, however, met with resounding success, to say the least. Becoming the 18th state in the nation prohibiting the destruction of animals via gas chamber, New Mexico Governor, Bill Richardson, signed legislation into law on Monday, April 6th, banning forever the use of carbon monoxide gas chambers for the purpose of killing pets at animal shelters. “There is a more humane way to euthanize pets and we have to enforce this,” Richardson said at a news conference on the outskirts of Santa Fe. And he is, most assuredly, right. As one of the states still allowing gas chambers to be used as means of execution for our homeless cats and dogs, Texas is lagging behind when it comes to humane euthanasia. And this has to change. Approved, but Not Preferred The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) approves CO gassing as a method of euthanasia, yet in the same report acknowledging its approval; they also state it is not the “preferred” method.

Listing enough serious drawbacks to give one pause, their 2007 Guidelines on Euthanasia strongly cautions that although acceptable, “humane” CO gassing also: May be distressing to animals because the gas dissolves in moisture on the nasal mucosa. The resulting product, carbonic acid, may stimulate nociceptors, a sensory receptor responsible for the perception of pain. Because CO is heavier than air, incomplete filling of a chamber may permit animals to climb or raise their heads above the higher concentrations, avoiding exposure, thereby prolonging their deaths.

Strongly not recommended for nursing kittens, puppies, pregnant animals, many types of wildlife, and large or medium sized dogs. Therefore, only small dogs and cats fit into these guidelines; making the use of CO gassing for a widely varied animal population, as is typically found in animal facilities, an inconvenient and impractical solution. May produce painful pulmonary and upper respiratory tract lesions prior to loss of consciousness. Even if used correctly, may take longer than euthanasia by other means. Animals may experience distress vocalization (this includes barking, crying, howling and screeching), struggling, frantic attempts to escape, defensive or redirected aggression, salivation, urination, defecation, evacuation of anal sacs, tachycardia, sweating, and reflex skeletal muscle contractions such as shivering, tremors, or other muscular spasms. Now I ask you, just how “humane” does any of that sound?

Human Toll The animal welfare group, American Humane, considers euthanasia by injection, or EBI, of sodium pentobarbital to be the only compassionate vehicle of death for dogs and cats in animal shelters–and not just for the animal’s sake, either. Says American Humane: "Shelter workers overwhelmingly wish to hold and comfort a frightened animal in its final moments of life. That act may be the only kindness the animal has ever known. In contrast, even with vigilant oversight, euthanizing any animal by means of a … carbon monoxide gas system … is both severely inhumane and harmful to the emotional and physical health of people and animals. Such acts of euthanasia also create public outcry regarding the outdated practices and demean the purpose of an animal shelter.”

The use of gas chambers in our Texas shelters causes immense emotional and psychological damage to countless animal shelter workers. In naked biological terms, animals do not lose consciousness or die until there is a buildup of the CO gas in their lungs, and shelter workers have documented that until that buildup happens, sometimes as much as 30-40 minutes later, they are an unwilling witness to the piercing cries, howling, retching, scratching and sheer, blind helpless panic of the animals locked inside. It is also not uncommon to have to gas some animals twice. Many workers endure it in either subdued silence or quiet weeping. Every. Single. Day.

A few of you may remember the sad and somewhat sickening Craigslist posting that was circulated back in 2006. It was entitled “I put dogs in the gas chamber,” and offered a chilling view of the psychological suffering one person may have endured while employed at a gassing facility. No claims to its authenticity are offered here; however the words of the unknown author are powerfully vivid and compelling. But for all that, it’s not just the emotional toll workers need to worry about.

Fatal Practices In March 2000, 39-yearold animal control worker, Vernon Dove, asphyxiated to death while operating a homemade concrete block chamber in a Chattanooga, Tennessee shelter. After working at the shelter for 10 years, he was familiar with the procedure, and while routinely euthanizing a batch of animals, CO-a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas-leaked from the faulty chamber. Mr. Dove never knew what hit him. Minutes later, he was found dead at the scene by two coworkers.

Sadly, death by Carbon Monoxide Asphyxiation (CMA) is not the peaceful death we have been led to believe. The Hollywood images of the forlorn widow sticking her head in the oven in search of a painless reprieve couldn’t be farther from the truth. Says one Dade County pathologist, “After observing several dozen CMA victims in autopsy, I can tell you that the body left behind is useless for organ donation, discolored to the point where extreme make-up is required to prepare it for any burial viewing, and is treated as a toxic waste product by professionals. None of the CMA bodies I saw had that “classic” peaceful facial appearance, similar to being asleep. Rather, some had their eyes open wide, while others had a horrific grimace, swollen tongues protruding out from stretched lips and most had suffered some degree of nasal haemorrhaging. All but a few had vomitus spray on their clothing and most had experienced trauma related bowel release syndrome, (T.B.R.S. also called ‘timber syndrome’ by industry professionals).”

Information was not available on the condition of Mr. Dove’s corpse, but what is overwhelmingly clear is that because he worked for an animal facility still engaged in killing animals by CO procedures, Mr. Dove paid the ultimate price for entrusting his safety to his employers. As part of the investigation into this fatality, the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) determined that the animal control officer was exposed to CO levels high enough to be rapidly fatal.

TOSHA later fined the Humane Educational Society of Chattanooga $22,800, citing several “serious” violations of workplace safety law. Said Jan Cothran, manager of health compliance for TOSHA, “[The safety inspectors said the Humane Society] failed to provide proper ventilation, failed to provide a respiratory protection program, failed to warn workers about safety hazards [and] failed to provide material safety data sheets for toxic chemicals.” Terri Mabry, Dove’s sister, discussed legal options with two lawyers, but was astonished by both of their responses.

Apparently, Tennessee law forbade Dove’s family from taking action against the Humane Society because a company that has worker’s compensation insurance and has not intentionally killed an employee may not be sued. “It’s the responsibility of the employer to train the employees in proper use of equipment and procedures,” said Mabry contemptuously. “As a result of his employer’s decision not to protect their employees, my brother is dead.” Texas, however, has no such law. If an employee could prove harm had occurred caused either directly or indirectly from a CO gas chamber; you can bet that the city (or county) will pay dearly. There are far too many “Texas Hammer” lawyer-types to pass up such a prime cut.

As a direct result of Vernon Dove’s death, the state of Tennessee enacted a ban on gas chamber killings. At Least You’ve Got Your Health But the concerns raised by the Tennessee incident reach well beyond the state line. In February 2004, the City of Liberal, Kansas, asked the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for help in evaluating CO exposures of employees that operated two euthanasia chambers at the city-run animal shelter. The results of NIOSH’s findings were clearly damning. The NIOSH investigator concluded that the use of homemade CO chambers, such as the one investigated, presented an unacceptable health risk to animal shelter employees. When CO was introduced into the chamber, CO concentrations near the chamber rapidly exceed the NIOSH ceiling limit of 200 parts per million (ppm).

The NIOSH Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health value of 1,200 ppm was exceeded in one instance. But just in case you’re thinking the dangers that were present in Tennessee were entirely due to their gas chamber being “homemade”–think again. Stokes County, North Carolina Fire Marshal, Bradley Cheek, inspected a gas chamber at Stokes County Animal Control in January 2007. A letter from the Marshal to shelter supervisor, Sarah Shumate, documented high levels of gas at the supply tank as well as the gas chamber door. Cheek warned: “During the euthanasia process, levels of carbon monoxide in excess of 1000 ppm were detected on the exterior of the chamber loading door. It is not known what the exact readings were; this is due to the monitor having a maximum reading of 1000 ppm….Carbon monoxide is immediately dangerous to life and health at 1200 ppm.” Inexplicably, this very same gas chamber is still in use today.

Here is a small sampling of what animal control personnel working in shelters utilizing gas chambers must take into consideration every morning when reporting for duty: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says, “Perhaps the most insidious effect of CP poisoning is the development of delayed neuropsychiatric impairment within 2 - 28 days after poisoning and the slow resolution of neurobehavioral consequences.” In his published CO Toxicity study, Dr. Samara Soghoian, MD, Medical Toxicology Fellow, New York University School of Medicine, reports that CO toxicity in humans causes “…memory disturbances, including both anterograde and retrograde amnesia, are the most common neurologic abnormalities. Other signs include lethargy, stupor, coma, gait disturbance, movement disorders, apraxia, agnosia, tics, vestibular dysfunction, hearing and visual loss, rigidity, brisk reflexes, emotional lability, frank psychosis, and impaired judgment and cognitive function.

According to an article from the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2006, “Researchers discover a link between severe carbon monoxide poisoning and death years later from heart disease.” A study of patients poisoned by carbon monoxide, from LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1999 concluded, “Ninety-three per cent of the patients exhibited a variety of cognitive impairments, including impaired attention, memory, executive function, and mental processing speed. Ninety-five per cent of the patients experienced affective changes including depression and anxiety.” The US Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention says, “Red blood cells pick up CO quicker than they pick up oxygen. If there is a lot of CO in the air, the body may replace oxygen in blood with CO. This blocks oxygen from getting into the body, which can damage tissues and result in death.”

In a study funded by the National Institute of Health, Penn State researchers stated that “Brain damage occurs - days to weeks later - in half of the patients with a serious case of CO poisoning.” A 1983 Archives of Neurology article by Dr. Il Saing Choi, MD, detailed delayed neurologic effects of CO: “The most frequent symptoms were mental deterioration, urinary or fecal incontinence, gait disturbance, and mutism.” It is believed that in North Carolina alone, at least four county employees operating gas chambers have died in recent years from heart and lung-related disorders. It is believed those health issues were directly related to long term CO exposure.

But there’s a much more immediate danger than CO poisoning that puts our Texas animal shelter employees at risk. Booming Business In July, 2008, animal control workers at an animal services facility in Statesville, NC, loaded their gas chamber full of animals, and flipped the switch to start the deadly process rolling. While there are conflicting reports as to whether or not the killings were being attended by a worker, no one can dispute the remarkable fortune granted to every employee 30 minutes later. On the fateful day of July 22nd, the Iredell County Animal Services gas chamber exploded. Because the office and the euthanasia area were separated by several rooms with block walls, according to Tracy Jackson, the assistant county manager, no one even heard the boom. Although widely reported that the chamber blast was due to a broken light bulb being exposed to CO, the cause of the detonation is still unclear. However, the situation was quickly put under control by local firefighters, and no injuries were reported. Except, of course, for the ten dogs inside the chamber at the time.

The AVMA is clear about the human health risks associated with CO life-termination procedure; they state that gas chambers are “…hazardous to personnel because of the risk of explosions …or health effects resulting from chronic exposure.” And warn too, that “…carbon monoxide gas is cumulative in the bodies of shelter workers and long-term effects may include cancers and cardiovascular diseases”. And if that weren’t enough to convince you the laws need to change in Texas, chew on this; sometimes gas chambers don’t always work, either.

The grateful dead? Unfortunately, death is not a guarantee when using CO. A single cycle of gassing can take anywhere from 20-40 minutes to complete–one would assume a veritable eternity when defecating and urinating uncontrollably, choking for breath, and helplessly vomiting. But what happens when one cycle isn’t enough? “It’s hard enough to have to put them through it once,” says a Texas gassing facility worker who wished to remain anonymous. “…I’ve heard of places where it happens all the time, but thankfully animals surviving a first round gassing only happens maybe once a month or so with us. I’ve been lucky–it’s not happened yet when I’m on duty. Honest to God, I don’t know what I’ll do when it does.”

Well, here is what some other people did when it happened to them: July 21st, 2006, Hinesville, GA: After 30 minutes in the gas chamber, it was only by the Grace of God that a little hound-mix survived. But the horrors she encountered in that 30 minutes, live on in more than just her memory. “It will never leave me,” Says Deborah Palpal-Latoc, an employee with the Liberty County Animal Control. “I have had nightmares and don’t think I’ll ever forget this as long as I live.” Palpal-Latoc was one of the first to witness the painful miracle. It haunts her to this day. “…the dog above her — its bodily fluids were dripping all over her,” recalls Palpal-Latoc eyes filled with tears. “And she was cowering and scared and foaming at the mouth and trying to get out.” Pulling her from the tangled pile of corpses, Palpal-Latoc rushed her to the vet.

This furry, unlikely hero with the incredible will to survive is now named “Amazing Grace,” in honor of the Divine Intervention accomplished on her behalf that day. Serving as the catalyst, it was Amazing Grace’s story that inspired the Macon City Council to unanimously pass an ordinance to switch from killing by gas to lethal injection on or before July 1, 2009.

Later, Georgia’s House Bill 606, motivated by Amazing Grace, too, aims to put an end to the use of gas chambers in the entire state. Rep. Tom Knox is the bill’s primary sponsor, and it will be heard next year.

April, 2005, Mocksville, NC: While dropping off construction materials at a dumpsite one morning, Jeff and Susan Armsworthy were about to have an encounter that would change their lives forever. “I had backed my truck up, and was just finishing throwing the trash into the dumpster when we heard this noise,” Armsworthy said. “I thought it was a toy at first.” Armsworthy said he looked into the dumpster and saw a load of black garbage bags under the trash he had just deposited. A few seconds later, he heard the sound again. “I thought the second time it was a puppy,” Armsworthy said. “I thought, ‘Lord, who could do something like that?’” Along with his wife and a county employee, Armsworthy jumped into the dumpster and started digging through the trash, searching for the source of the noise.

When they reached the bottom of the dumpster they found two large plastic bags. Thinking he had found the source, Armsworthy tore one open, only to have the carcass of a female Rottweiler mix fall out. They almost abandoned their search right then and there, when the noise reached their ears yet again. “I tore open the second bag, and there they were. Three dead puppies and one still wiggling,” Armsworthy said. “It was all matted and nasty, but it was alive.” Susan, who works at a veterinary hospital nearby, brought the puppy to her job to be checked out by Dr. Beth Eubanks. With the exception of worms, Eubanks gave the puppy a clean bill of health.

The puppy had been dumped by employees of the Davie County Animal Shelter. Animal Control Officer Robert Cook said he was heartbroken about the incident. The puppies, which had been abandoned at the shelter the week before, were supposedly killed that morning when their time was up. Apparently though, one of the puppies was rendered unconscious by the CO gas, and as a result didn’t inhale enough to be fatal. He later became conscious while in the dumpster. His name is now Davie, and it’s his name that graces North Carolina HB #6; Davie’s Law. Sponsored by Rep. Cary Allred; if enacted, Davie’s Law would end the use of gas chambers in the state of North Carolina–guaranteeing that no more Davie’s will have to suffer such horrors again.

August, 2003, St Louis, MI: An eleventh hour Governor’s pardon is more than most deathrow inmates can bear to hope for; but at the St Louis Animal Regulation Center, a reprieve from an even Higher Authority gave shelter workers quite a shocking surprise. On the morning of August 4th, Cain, a year-old Besenji mix, who had been turned in by his owner just a few days before, was sedated and placed with seven other dogs inside the facility’s gas chamber. Fifteen minutes later, Bill Dobbs, who has the undesirable job of removing the cadavers, unlocked the chamber. “I saw this dog in the right corner of the cage,” he said, “staring at me and wagging its tail.”

The theory to Cain’s survival was that the sedation had slowed his breathing, thereby lessening his carbon monoxide intake. But once out, Cain, who had acquired a surly reputation in his stay at the pound, “gave me a dirty look,” says center supervisor Rosemary Ficken, “like he had it out for me.” After monitoring the dog for neurological damage, Ficken called Stray Rescue of St. Louis. “She told me, ‘Please, take him. I don’t have the heart to put him back in there and re-gas him,’” said Randy Grim, founder of the non-profit shelter.

When Grim arrived, he renamed the dog Quentin–after San Quentin, the infamous prison with the ghoulish gas chamber. As the story of Quentin grew, Randy began to think the dog had survived for a reason. “He should have died. But not only did he not die… he was completely alert and standing on top of dead dogs. No dog had ever done that before. It’s the closest thing to an animal miracle I’d ever heard about,” exclaimed Grim.

Grim received over 700 calls to adopt Quentin, “but then I brought Quentin to my house,” he said. “I have a dog named Hannah, who hates all other dogs. I always have to separate her from any dogs I’m fostering because she always beats them up. When she met Quentin she lay down and rolled over on her back and went real passive. She treated him like a mom. They slept together and played together…That’s when I started thinking that maybe I should just keep him.” Quentin has a “sissy-like” bark and gets along great with the other dogs. “It’s like he’s always been a part of the family,” laughs Grim.

Quentin’s amazing story was memorialized in a book entitled Miracle Dog: How Quentin Survived the Gas Chamber to Speak for Animals on Death Row, and together–with Grim, of course–started a campaign against gas chamber use and to support no-kill animal shelters. Soon afterwards, Quentin went Hollywood and was featured in a National Geographic article about animal gassing. And because of Quentin and his remarkable story, the St. Louis animal shelter stopped using the gas chamber in January 2005; switching to the more humane method of euthanasia by injection. “To me, it’s a miracle or divine intervention,” said Grim. ”I can’t help but think he’s here to serve a higher purpose.” We think so, too.

"Gassing the Conscience of Texas, Part II" is coming soon - This upcoming article will explore the real costs of EBI vs. CO gassing, the debate from people who support or oppose the use of gas chambers, meet the shelter workers forced to kill by gas chamber, and much, much more. Poocini Special Report freely gives permission to cross-post or quote this article if proper credit is given!

Article Source: Sica, Nicole J. “Gassing the Conscience of Texas.” 11 Aprily 2009. Poocini.com 12 April 2009.

Labels: Behavior and Training, Energy and Environment, Pet Memorial