The shaking becomes unbearable as they are pulled into the room and with the first step inside the distinguishing smell of death and carbon monoxide hits their senses. The fear eventually becomes overwhelming causing them to urinate and defecate on themselves.
The door closes to the small chamber only big enough to fit three bodies uncomfortably, yet 12 have been thrust in. The sound of a hiss fills the chamber and the real pain begins.
The same process the Nazis used during the holocaust to kill their victims is still used til this day to euthanize animals who are aggressive, sick or even animals deemed “perfectly fine” but were not lucky enough to be chosen for adoption.
Once the gas is released the animals initially begin feeling dizzy, which causes distress and fights break out within the chamber while other animals paw at the window. This lasting roughly one minute.
Then the whimpering begins as the monoxide begins to burn their nose, throat, eyes and mouth. The cries turn into wails as the pain becomes unbearable, all this lasting another 45 seconds.
Eventually most of the animals die; however, shelters and animal farms cram too many animals into the chamber and not all the animals die. The animals surviving then must go through the process again until they are finally pronounced dead.
When a criminal is executed for a capital crime the common method of death is the lethal injection, a more humane technique. Although there is evidence that animals suffer distress in the chambers, gas chambers are still viewed as an acceptable means for euthanizing.
Only 13 out of 50 states have banned the use of carbon monoxide to euthanize animals: Wyoming, Washington, Virginia, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Oregon, New Jersey, Maryland, Maine, Florida, Delaware, California and Arizona.
This inhumane act has not been banned all across the nation because it is cost effective. It is cheaper to kill 12 dogs at once than spend the money to euthanize each animal humanely with an intravenous anesthetic.
There are 5 to 7 million animals picked up or dropped off at shelters, and of those 3 to 4 million are euthanized. Major city shelters such as the ASPCA use the injection method to euthanize animals, but even if only one shelter or one animal farm uses the carbon monoxide method, that is still one too many.
