Gas chamber mishap sparks review-Statesville, NC

It can take even longer. And if they pack enough animals in there, the ones at the bottom can't breath well enough to be killed and are still somewhat alive when they open it. It is HORRIBLE.

I'm from NC and this is the letter I just wrote as a header to the news story and sent all my friends and family back home:

As you might imagine from the headline, the animal rescue community is reeling from the news of this explosion at an NC shelter but I wanted to send this email to my family, friends, and other contacts as well. I don't normally send out this kind of stuff and I hate to be the one to tell you about anything this awful, but this has to stop. I think lawmakers probably expect to hear from animal loving crazies like me when something like this happens and probably largely ignore us (although I'll be saying my piece also!) but if other people, pet owners and non pet owners, just reasonable and humane NC citizens add their voices then perhaps we might actually see a permanent change.


NC has been infamous for its widespread use of gas chambers to euthanize dogs and cats for years but I am hoping that this recent travesty brings the practice into the light and that those of us from NC and who live in NC will stand up and say enough is enough. Saving money is simply not an acceptable excuse for this continued practice with its inherent cruelty not to mention the danger it poses to human operators.


Gas chamber - and I almost hate to use the word here, since it's hardly a "good death" - euthanasia is an abominably cruel method of dispatching unwanted animals. Dogs and cats are packed into small bunkers and then die slowly in chaos crammed together in the dark. It is not at all uncommon for animals at the bottom to survive because they are effectively smothered by the other animals and then they have to be gassed again. I can't even imagine how terrifying it must be for them. Frankly, I think shooting them would be more humane. And yet bills that would ban gas chambers repeatedly get voted down because gas chambers are supposed to be more cost effective than euthanasia by lethal injection.


The fact that we as a society kill hundreds of thousands of perfectly healthy animals every year is horrible enough. Can we not at least offer each one of them a peaceful release from a world that didn't want them? When I worked at the shelter, I had to help hold dogs and cats, puppies and kittens that were not adopted while they were humanely euthanized by injection. It was, as you might imagine, incredibly sad but I told myself that at least the last voice they heard would be a kind one, at least their last moments would be calm. Gas chamber euthanasia is none of these things.

If you are not convinced, this is a link to unsensationalized straight up videography of the process occurring in Yadkin County NC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMR9scfrsx0&feature=related

The only reason I can imagine that shelters are still using gas chambers is because the general public is unaware of them - probably assuming that there's no way state and local governments would let something this awful get by.

Please contact the people listed at the bottom of the email below and let them know that North Carolinians are not okay with this any more. And please send this on to any contacts you have who may be willing to join the push to ban gas chambers from NC shelters forever. I know it's unpleasant to think about but unless we stand up and say something, this practice will continue and this is nothing our state should ever be known for.

Thank you!
Hannah