Euthanizing Methods Under Fire
Bill would ban using guns to destroy animals
By LEO SHANE III
Eagle-Gazette Columbus Bureau
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COLUMBUS -- Terry Turner doesn't think the public knows that counties still shoot stray animals as routine euthanasia procedures.
"There's no reason for counties to be using this anymore," said Turner, director of the Ohio Humane Education Association. "Shooting is not a sure way of killing an animal, and often the dogs suffer. There's no dignity in it, even for us."
That practice would be banned under a bill to be introduced by Rep. Chris Redfern, D-Catawba Island. The legislation proposes an outright ban on the use of any firearms for routine euthanasia in all Ohio pounds and shelters.
The move comes two months after Morgan County commissioners voted to stop shooting dogs at their county pound after animal rights groups and local voters protested the move.
Emily Matusek, president of the Morgan County Humane Society, said her group had been fighting to stop the practice for years before recent media attention helped change the county's policies.
Officials had maintained the shootings kept costs down at the county's pound, rather than using lethal injections or a carbon-monoxide gas chamber.
"They insist it was a humane way of doing things," Matusek said.
Only a few counties still use shootings as their primary method of putting down unwanted animals, all located in southeast Ohio.
But John Fisher, president of the northeast Ohio Dog Warden Association, said that for poorer counties, the shootings are a viable option.
"I feel bad for those people. They just don't have the money to do the job properly," he said. "It's not illegal, and it's not preferable, but it is much less expensive.
"It's just that it's not acceptable because there are too many tree-huggers out there."
Fisher, dog warden for the Richland County Dog Pound, said he opposes the proposed bill because he worries it will lead to misguided restrictions on animal shelters' employees. Richland County uses a carbon monoxide chamber to put down strays, but most humane societies favor lethal injection.
"Anyone who says lethal injection is easy is a moron," Fisher said. "We did it for 18 months, and you're talking to the person who held each one of those animals as it was injected. You never get used to it."
But Turner said that shooting the animals is far worse than either carbon monoxide poisoning or lethal injections, and lawmakers must eliminate guns as an option to preserve the humane treatment of strays.
Fairfield County dog warden Mike Miller said his department has used carbon monoxide poisoning for 25 years. He said a ban on shooting strays would not effect the county.
But Miller added that the high volume of work some shelters see makes lethal injections financially unfeasible.
Fairfield euthanizes about 30 dogs a week at their Lancaster shelter, making the gas chamber their most feasible solution.
Redfern admitted the bill has little chance of passing this year, especially with the legislature's long, pre-election recesses. The Democrat said his goal is to get people talking about the issue, and possibly get public support to guide more extensive legislation next year.
Turner hopes the process will move even quicker.
"It's really time we get something done," she said. "These animals have done nothing, and humane treatment is the least we owe them."
Originally published Sunday, July 14, 2002
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