Editorial: No-win animal euthanasia

There is no good way to get rid of unwanted animals. But if the Rowan County Animal Shelter had not euthanized animals last year, some 5,000 more dogs and cats would be roaming the county. And they would be reproducing.

The General Assembly is considering legislation that could ban the use of carbon monoxide gas to euthanize animals; shelters would be forced to use lethal injection. Legislators need to hear what their constituents have to say on the issue. Before constituents can develop fully informed opinions, they need to know more about current practices.

That's the purpose of the series of stories the Post is publishing this week, "At Death's Door." It begins today and continues Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The statewide debate over animal euthanasia methods has been sidetracked in Rowan County as the Health Department attempts to keep its animal euthanasia procedure hidden from public view. The Animal Shelter staff agreed to let a Post reporter witness the process, but what reporter Kathy Chaffin saw was not normal procedure. Only one dog was put in the gas chamber, rather than the usual three or four. And Health Director Leonard Wood, who says gassing is the best method, would not allow photographs of it. Now a committee is trying to draw up a suitable policy about viewing the gassing process.

Not to worry; this is the YouTube generation. If you want to see how some shelters carry out the job of gassing animals, you can find a video online taken of the old Cabarrus County shelter from nearby woods. There's also a video made at the Yadkin County facility, taped by a student for a school project.

They're unpleasant to watch. Dogs resist mightily when people try to put them in chambers that smell of death. But don't assume lethal injection will always look better. Some practitioners cradle animals in their arms as shots are administered and the animals nod off to death; it looks so humane. But a video from Taiwan shows how brutal even injection can be in uncaring hands, with handlers jabbing a dog held by a catchpole and letting him struggle to stand and then fall atop a pile of other animals' already dead bodies.

It makes one angry. Why do these animals have to die? Because there are too many dogs and cats, and they cannot be allowed to run free.

People who care about animals have struggled for years to find solutions. That's why the Humane Society of Rowan County formed and why Faithful Friends is raising funds for a no-kill shelter. But that shelter probably won't make much of a dent in the thousands of dogs and cats dumped at the shelter each year. Only more economical, readily available spaying and neutering services will help. Until then — and even then — North Carolina must choose the best way to kill animals no one wants.