Only 11 or 12 out of 100 North Carolina counties still use gas chambers for animal euthanasia. Even though Rowan is surrounded by others that have banned gassing, this county refuses to end this grossly cruel practice.
Just prior to a recent protest held at the county shelter, Rowan animal control director Clai Martin resent an email he’d written in 2008 defending the gassing, and county commissioner Jim Sides says he agrees with Martin’s excuse that using more humane methods is too risky to county workers.
But director Brad Gates, who got rid of Iredell’s gas chambers, says that tools and training take care of any risk concerns with lethal injection. Other NC counties have received thousands in grant money to help with the change.
One NC activist, Cyndy Midgett has walked hundreds of miles to protest this cruelty, but Martin characterizes such activism as harassment.
Tell Rowan County, NC: No more excuses - ban animal gas chambers now!
We, the undersigned, say Rowan County’s excuse to continue gassing animals is not acceptable.
The American Humane Society says that using these gas chambers is not only inhumane to the animals, it’s harmful to humans a well. The Society considers the only humane method of euthanasia for shelter animals to be by injection (EBI). The Society also points out the humane approach costs less money.
Both the national and state Humane Societies insist that the continued use of this “outdated and barbaric” practice brings criticism on all the shelters, even those who have discontinued the practice, and interferes with community support.
The descriptions of how this practice is carried out in reality, with the animals piled on top of one another, some having to be traumatized and gassed more than once, and other very disturbing details are not issues being discussed in Rowan County director’s emails or by Commissioner Sides.
Activist Cyndy Powell Midgett notes on her own petition that before these animals die during the cruel process of gassing, “they suffer … 40 minutes of shear terror, anxiety, fearfulness….”
Is it too much to ask Rowan County to spend a little extra time, funded by grants, on training its workers in order to prevent this kind of horror and pain to animals and for those who must participate in creating it?
We request that Rowan County stop making excuses for continuing this cruel practice and get rid of its gas chambers now!
Thanks for your time.
