By Kathy Chaffin
kchaffin@salisburypost.com
RALEIGH ó New euthanasia rules set by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will require animal shelters to euthanize unwanted cats and dogs by lethal injection when they are younger than 16 weeks old, pregnant or near death due to sickness or injury.
The rules will also require cats and dogs being euthanized in carbon monoxide gas chambers to be separated, whether it’s by carriers placed inside or separate sections within the chambers.
Dr. Lee Hunter, a veterinarian and director of animal welfare programs for the department’s Veterinary Division, reviewed the new rules for area animal control officers at an April 16 meeting at the Rowan County Rescue Squad.
“Now, we’re not going to talk about what’s more humane,” he said. “We’re not going to talk about which methods are the only ones or the right ones or whatever. That has been fought for three years.
“What we’re talking about is what has now gone into the administrative code and how this will potentially affect you.”
Though the rules were approved in 2005, Hunter said, “it takes a very long time to put a rule into action from the time you first draft it.” The rules became effective March 23, but he said it will take until at least August to retrain animal control officers across the state as certified euthanasia technicians.
“We’re actually in a grace period right now,” he said. “Plus, we have to build certain infrastructure to help you come into compliance. We could not get you where you wanted to be on Day One, so we cannot enforce it because it just wouldn’t be right.”
About 20 officers from Rowan and surrounding counties and interested citizens were present for Hunter’s presentation, including Rowan County Health Department Director Leonard Wood, Animal Control Supervisor Clai Martin and three other Rowan County Animal Control staff members.
“There is no grandfathering in on this …” Hunter said. “Everybody starts at zero.”
The training, however, for officers who have already been trained could be done in a much shorter period, he said, as long as they pass the state test. “If we can’t get the people certified,” he said, “then you’re not going to be able to euthanize animals.”
Hunter said the new rules allow for flexibility by animal shelters in setting up the training by local veterinarians or representatives of organizations like North American Animal Control (NACA) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).
“And honest to goodness, I’m not kidding you,” he said, “I invited PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) because PETA has done an awful lot of euthanasia training. Don’t make the jokes.”
Four of the five officers at Rowan County Animal Control have been trained in carbon monoxide and lethal injection euthanasia processes. The fifth officer, recently hired, has not yet received the training.
Martin said all eight staff members will be trained in both processes.
Hunter explained the reasons for the new rules, saying he had been around long enough “to remember the animal control officer that got called into court for beating a dog with a stick.”
“And I’ve been around long enough to remember the animal control officer swinging the puppies by their hind legs so their heads hit the wall,” he said.
That was the incident Hunter said he kept in his mind when reviewing the training rules with the attorney.
As part of the training, animal control officers will take a written test and a practical examination on the euthanasia processes for which they are seeking certification. “They have to demonstrate that they can do it properly and they can do it humanely,” he said.
Hunter said those were the instructions given to him by state Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler when they started writing the new rules. Included in them are regular unannounced inspections by the N.C. Department of Agriculture.
“And you have to be able to verify death. …” he said. “And it’s not just a little bit dead, it’s dead.”
The training will also cover security, record-keeping and the dangers of the carbon monoxide gas chamber and lethal injection methods of euthanasia. Hunter recalled a conversation with an animal control officer who euthanized every Friday.
“He said, ‘And when I am through with it, I am so sick,’ ” Hunter said. “I thought he was talking about the psychological aspects of what was going on and we talked. I said, ‘This is tough. It’s tough euthanizing.’ And he goes, ‘No, I’m sick. I’m vomiting. It’s not until Monday or Tuesday that I feel OK.’
“Well, that told me what was happening. He was getting carbon monoxide poisoning.”
The following week, Hunter said, he visited the animal shelter and discovered the man was euthanizing animals by running a metal pipe from the tailpipe of a truck into the chamber and cranking the vehicle.
“This is what he was taught …” he said. “The chamber was actually built so that it opened into the building where he was. … He was getting carbon monoxide poisoning at the same time he was doing the animals.”
Hunter said that incident was one of the reasons he decided to accept the job with Animal Welfare. “I didn’t want that kind of thing to happen again,” he said.
The rules also call for animal shelters to have a policy and procedure manual for both euthanasia methods.
As part of the rules, animal shelter employees have to apply for the training, and once they’ve received certification, Hunter said, it has to be renewed every five years. Certified employees and shelters will be required to notify the Department of Agriculture if an employee leaves.
People with animal cruelty charges will not be considered for employment.
Hunter said the N.C. Division of Health and Human Services will oversee the security of the controlled substances used in tranquilizing animals before euthanasia and the sodium pentobarbital used in the lethal injection process. Representatives of the division will inspect drug logs and make sure the drugs are locked in a secure place.
“If there’s a problem, they’re going to pass it to me,” he said.
Department of Agriculture inspectors will make sure shelters euthanizing with carbon monoxide gas chambers are using a minimum flow rate of 6 percent concentration. Hunter said they’ll also be checking to ensure animal carriers are not being stacked on top of each other inside the chamber.
Chambers’ wiring components will have to be warranted by manufacturers to be explosion proof, and all chambers must have exhaust ventilation. “Some of you may have a chamber that has to be trashed and you have to buy a new one …” he said.
If chambers are indoors, Hunter said, two carbon monoxide detectors will be required to alert staff of any leakage.
As for the money it will take animal shelter to train staff and comply with the new rules, he admitted it was an unfunded mandate. “The state puts it forward and says, ‘Take it, you have to pay for it,’ ” he said. That’s the same thing the federal government does to the state, he added.
To read the new euthanasia rules in the administrative codes, log on to the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Web site at www.agr.state.nc.us, go under divisions and click on Veterinary. After that, go under the section “Veterinary Division Highlights” and click on “Rules Review Commission approves euthanasia rules for animal shelters.”
Contact Kathy Chaffin at 704-797-4249.