Ban the usage of gas chambers in the Davidson County Animal Shelter

Is this truly how far we have come as a society, to insure suffering upon an animal at its last moments on earth, all because of our failure to be responsible pet owners? This is appalling, especially considering the fact that North Carolina doesn’t even offer this horrifying death as an option for its convicted murders.

People who rape and kill children have a more merciful death than animals, whose only crime is not having anyone to love and take care of them.

This county needs to enforce animal cruelty laws and focus on adoption and prevention methods, something that the sheriff’s department is not doing. We need to put someone in charge who has the animals' welfare as a priority, because animals do have feelings, too. They protect us, our children, find drugs and bombs, provide services to the disabled, and they are loyal and offer unconditional love to people regardless of race or gender. They too deserve respect and dignity. If we focus on prevention and adoption methods, having to euthanize animals could become a thing of the past, but in order to get here, we must be willing to set a goal and work towards this solution.

It is apparent that domestic animal populations are on the rise due to irresponsible pet owners and many foreclosures on real estate properties. This does not offer an excuse however for the gassing of these animals. If euthanasia is the only option for an animal, it should be done intravenously, which offers the animal a painless and peaceful death, unlike the gas chamber where the animals are struggling to breathe and crying out for help. In a life and death struggle gasping for air, terrified, this is how the shelter animals are spending their last moments. I encourage that you witness this barbaric practice first hand and then make your decision on what needs to be done.

The shelter already has employees that are trained to administer injections so extra money does not have to be spent in hiring a vet tech to perform this procedure. Get the sheriff’s department out of the shelter and put someone in charge who actually cares about the animals welfare. If adoption and prevention are focused on and enforced, I can guarantee that a results will be measurable.

It is up to Davidson County to set an example for other counties and states to show that we will not stand by and allow these in-humane practices to take place in our community!

Concerned citizen, Tina York
GassingAnimalsIsWrong@live.com