An interesting email I got:

Many abandoned animals die in taxpayer-funded gas chambers

By BILL BASKERVILL
Associated Press Writer

Published June 16, 2002

RICHMOND, Va. -- Mary Ellison remembers the scene vividly:

Several dogs were placed in a chest freezer converted into a gas chamber.
The lid, with a viewing window, was closed and the carbon monoxide in a tank
next to the chamber was turned on.

"There was a lot of barking, growling, crying, beating on the door trying to
get out" as they were poisoned, the animal control officer said.

The animals were gassed at a public pound Ellison visited in Virginia eight years ago.

Today, carbon monoxide chambers--some of them jerry-built metal boxes--are
still widely used in the United States to kill unwanted animals, most of them
strays picked up by animal control. Many localities refuse to allow the
public or press to watch gassings, even in Virginia, which permits press and
public witnesses for human executions.

Chesterfield and Henrico counties in suburban Richmond rejected a reporter's
recent requests to view the use of their gas chambers. A week later Henrico,
citing longtime pressure from animal rights groups, switched to lethal
injection of sodium pentobarbital.

Police Maj. Warner W. Williams said Chesterfield favors gas because sodium
pentobarbital is a controlled substance that must be kept locked up. It
requires two people to use, one to restrain the animal and one to give the
injection, and there is the possibility of an accidental needle stick, he said.

Most animal welfare groups and the American Veterinary Medical Association
recommend intravenous injection of sodium pentobarbital for the euthanasia of
companion animals. The drug, used by most private shelters and veterinarians,
produces rapid anesthesia and death.

Gassing is "like a dark, dirty secret that no one wants exposed," said Jeanne
Bridgforth, an animal welfare activist who launched a campaign last month to
rid Virginia of its 26 gas chambers. Even though killings are performed at
taxpayer expense, the public pounds are "doing something they don't want
anyone else to see," she said.

The Humane Society of the United States estimates 4 million to 5 million
unwanted dogs and cats are euthanized annually in the United States, but it
has no breakdown by method.

At least three states--California, Maryland and Tennessee _ have banned
carbon monoxide gassing.

"The easier that an animal can transition to death is helpful
psychologically" to people and animals, said Tennessee's state
veterinarian, Dr. Ronald Wilson.

Tennessee had another reason for banning gas chambers: An employee of an
animal shelter in Chattanooga died in March 2000 after being overcome by
carbon monoxide used to euthanize dogs. Officials said the man apparently
failed to clear the gas out of the chamber.

The American Veterinary Medical Association says carbon monoxide "is
extremely hazardous for personnel" because it is highly toxic and difficult
to detect and that it can be "extremely flammable and explosive."

Workers who euthanize animals by injection or gas often report nightmares,
flashbacks, sleep disorders, obsessive thinking and clinical depression,
experts say.

Chesterfield County authorities believe gassing is less stressful than lethal
injection for people who euthanize animals regularly, Williams said. "It's
effective. It's humane. The animal goes to sleep," he said.

It's also cheaper, said Ruth First of the American Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals, a New York-based humane organization that recommends
injection. She did not have comparative figures but said ASPCA officials over
the years have determined carbon monoxide gassing to be less costly than
sodium pentobarbital.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals disputed that. If a municipal
pound follows all of the veterinary medical association's guidelines,
gassing is more expensive, said PETA's Daphna Nachminovitch.

Some localities kill animals with carbon monoxide from internal combustion
engines, instead of using bottled gas as recommended by the AVMA. The Humane
Society of Utah criticized the city of Enoch for using exhaust fumes from a
pickup truck to kill stray dogs and cats.

Enoch City Council voted unanimously on April 17 to continue the practice.

"Our council says it works; it's the best method and we're not going to cave
in" to animal rights groups, City Manager Gaylen Matheson said in a
telephone interview.

"In 45 seconds they are sound asleep and another couple of minutes they are
dead," said Matheson, acknowledging "there is a perception problem having a
truck do it."

Five years ago Enoch was gassing 450 animals a year, Matheson said. The
recent controversy and attendant news stories resulted in an animal welfare
group taking many of the animals. There also has been a decline in strays,
apparently because pet owners are being more responsible, Matheson said.

The only animals being gassed in Enoch now are dogs that have attacked sheep
or otherwise demonstrated viciousness--about three a month, Matheson said.

There is no way Enoch's sole part-time animal control officer could use
intravenous injection on vicious animals, he said.

"It is so unsafe to one person to give the shot," Matheson said. "To all by
yourself hold a sheep-killer dog around the neck and try to get that thing
in a vein. You just can't do it."

My own commentary: Its ok to continue gassing dogs just to show your tougher
than someone else...ok we know who has issues. I hope none of those people
have any pets. Anyone who can be so uncaring towards another living being
deserves the same fate.

If your able to shove a "vicious" dog into a box, your able to wrap its
muzzle and give it a sedative. Not so hard to euthanize a limp dog. OH!
WAIT! Sedatives? They may cost extra money. I swear theres a lot of
heartless bastards out there.