Debate likely on use of carbon monoxide for euthanasia

RALEIGH - Debate in the halls of state government later this year could turn on whether the use of carbon monoxide gas is a humane method of euthanasia for unwanted animals.

Two bills have been introduced in the state House affecting the use of carbon monoxide chambers in animal shelters in North Carolina.

Rep. Cary Allred of Alamance County and Rep. Pat McElraft of Carteret County  are among the sponsors of one bill that would ban the use in animal shelters and require technicians to euthanize animals by injecting the drug sodium pentobarbital or by giving the powdered form of the drug mixed with food.

The other bill would allow for carbon monoxide gas euthanasia only in limited circumstances, such as when lethal injection would be considered a danger to a human or to another animal.

Alice Singh, a Yadkin County resident who serves on the board of directors for the N.C. Coalition for Humane Euthanasia, said injection is a more humane way of euthanizing unwanted or dangerous animals than using carbon monoxide gas.

"I've watched them where you put the animals in, one at a time," Singh said of using a gas chamber. "You get put in this metal box and you hear the lid slam... They're scared. They're horrified."

Singh said that animals don't die immediately and that you can hear some scream.

"When it's lethal injection, you have someone that holds the animal," Singh said. "They put the needle in and they just go to sleep."

Dr. Lee Hunter, state veterinarian, said the state Board of Agriculture's recently adopted rules allow for the use of gas chambers as a humane method of euthanizing animals.

"It allowed the counties to make a decision on which method of euthanasia to use," Hunter said. "The American Veterinary Medical Association board of experts considers it a humane method of euthanasia."

Hunter said there are exceptions for which carbon monoxide is not considered proper. Those include animals that are younger than 16 weeks old, animals that are pregnant or those that are sick or near death, he said.

"If you talk to people who have actually seen it, when it is done properly, it is a humane and relatively rapid method," Hunter said.

Singh said most counties in North Carolina have done away with the carbon monoxide gas chambers altogether.

"All the other counties can learn to do it the same way," Singh said.

Last month, McElraft said that seven counties, including Cleveland, and one city operating an animal shelter use carbon monoxide poisoning as a means of euthanizing unwanted animals. Six other counties, including Alamance, use it for backup purposes only, McElraft said.

Barry Smith can be reached at bsmith@link.freedom.com.