Ban the use of gas chambers in North Carolina Pounds

Killing With Kindness Campaign.

Dogs and cats that are taken to the pound in hopes of finding a new home are more likely to end up being put to death in a gas chamber, a cruel and outdated method of killing. Our shelter uses carbon monoxide poisoning as the primary method of destroying animals. The other more humane killing method, a sodium pentobarbital injection, is reserved for animals too sick, too young, too pregnant, or too injured to be effectively destroyed in the gas chamber. Less than 1% of the humane society shelters in the nation use this cruel and out-dated method and California, Florida, and Tennessee have prohibited its use on companion animals all together. Why then is it the main killing method at the Craven/Pamlico Animal Services Center in Craven County?

As long as it is deemed necessary to kill these unfortunate animals, the very least we can do is provide them with a more gentle way of dying. In an act of compassion, Pals for Paws is launching a "Killing With Kindness" campaign to stop the inhumane killing.

The fact that this is a horrific death and that these animals die in fear is well documented. When multiple animals are placed in a chamber at the same time and are gassed together, they injure themselves and each other in their terror. A crescendo of their mournful wails can be heard for up to 45 seconds. The last few moments of their lives are spent in a desperate attempt to get away from the deadly gas. After the allotted time, what is left is a pile of dead animals covered in feces and urine whose carcasses are then removed to provide space for the next batch.

A method of killing by lethal injection is much kinder to the animal. This takes two people. One person holds the animal while the other gently slips a needle into a vein. The collapse of the animal is almost instantaneous as the syringe is emptied. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the American Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) recommend an injection of sodium pentobarbital as the preferred method of euthanasia. When performed properly, this has been found to be the most humane, safest, least stressful and most rapid method of euthanasia of dogs and cats without causing fear and distress in the animals.

The "Killing With Kindness" campaign is a grassroots campaign being conducted by animal welfare and animal rights groups through out the nation and sponsored locally by Pals for Paws. This is your campaign-the taxpayers-for it is your taxes that fund the local shelter and your voice that can effect a change in the existing system. Whether this campaign lives or dies, whether companion animals die cruelly or compassionately will depend on your involvement.

We hope that every animal related individual or group in the area will support and participate with us in our efforts to urge our shelter to purge the use of the gas chamber as so many others in the country have done. We have prepared a petition to present to our local and state legislatures to make a federal law a reality to stop this method of killing. We hope that this campaign will set an example of how people can come together for the animals in our care. Please add your voice to ours by signing our petition and please promote and support every animal adoption resource so that we can put an end to the killing. Our shelter is killing over 5,000 animals a year. Sadly, most of these animals were healthy and would have made wonderful pets.