County commissioners are just playing politics with dog issue

To the Editor:

I am a student at Ohio University and a member of the Athens County community. I am also a member of the Athens County Animal Advocates, the group formed to fight for the gas chamber to be dismantled at the county Dog Shelter. Recently, multiple articles have been circulating about our efforts to end gassing, and alleged progress of moving toward euthanasia by injection.

To start, I would like to say the "progress" is really no progress at all. After reading county Commissioner Larry Payne's proposal, I quickly realized that his proposal was a political act with the only intention being to shut us up. We will continue to fight for the end of the use of the gas chamber until it is accomplished, and Payne's proposal is nowhere near satisfying ACAA and its many supporters, as was evident at Saturday's "Occu-Puppy" rally on East State Street. I do understand why the dog warden wants to make a cost analysis, but how will the public really ever know the results?

As we continue this journey, we continue to hear things that do not seem to match the evidence, like the amount of dogs gassed each month. Numbers were pulled out of thin air because they seemed like a low enough number to mollify our suspicions. It is inhumane to gas an animal to death, aside from the true meaning of "euthanasia." Are we such a materialistic society that we care more about money than doing things in a humane manner?

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Euthanasia is: "the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy." Clearly, the Athens County Dog Shelter is not "euthanizing" their dogs, because not only do they gas perfectly healthy dogs, the dogs also experience a great deal of pain.

Payne's proposal says that they will make EBI the preferred method, but the gas chamber can still be used for animals they deem dangerous — the same thing that's going on right now. The evidence continues to mount that when absolutely necessary, euthanasia by injection is by far the most acceptable way to end the life of an animal. It is the most humane and, according to our extensive research, the most inexpensive method as well. According to research done by the American Humane Association, the cost of carbon monoxide poisoning is $4.98 per animal and the cost of EBI is $2.29 per animal. The study is available for anyone to read at: www.americanhumane.org/assets/pdfs/animals/adv-co-ebi-cost-analysis09.pdf. %u2028

We will continue to fight for the gas chamber to be dismantled and the transition to EBI, but thus far, nothing has changed. A real proposal needs to be drafted, and the issue needs to be treated as a priority.

Samantha Moon
South Green Drive
Athens