Demonstrators in Wyoming are pushing for an animal clinic to stop using gas to put down stray animals, saying that it is inhumane.
For the past nine months, two residents of Rock Springs have worked to raise awareness that Rock Springs Animal Control is one of the few clinics in the country that still uses gas to kill feral cats and aggressive dogs.
One of the two residents pushing the effort, Madhu Anderson, told the Rocket Miner that other shelters in the state euthanize animals using sodium pentobarbital injections, resulting in a quick and painless death. She and Eve Waggoner were spotted holding signs outside Rock Springs City Hall last week.
Police Chief Dwane Pacheco told the women during the demonstration that animal control does its best to adopt out its animals before euthanizing them.
“The only animals we euthanize are feral cats and vicious or aggressive dogs,” he said. “In fact, we have one of the few spay neuter programs in the state. We budget almost $25,000 a year. Almost all of our animals that we adopt are altered as they go out the door without any cost by the person who adopts them.”
City employees said that the gas chambers are used when there is a concern for the safety of staff, such as when dealing with a violent stray dog.
“I understand not all animals are going to be saved, but even for feral cats and vicious dogs, the more humane way to put them down is to use injection, not the gas chambers,” Anderson said.
The duo say they plan to keep protesting the practice to raise awareness about the animals being gassed.
“We got a lot of honks and thumbs-up along the way, so I know we have a strong support group.” Anderson said. “We encourage people to keep calling in and hopefully we can all work together to ban all uses of gas chambers.”
Utah, Missouri, and Idaho are the only states that still use gas chambers to euthanize animals.
