Pound to continue to use gassing for animals

LISBON -- Stray and unwanted dogs will continue to be gassed weekly at the Columbiana County Dog Pound.
After weighing for weeks whether to switch from gas to lethal injection to perform the deadly task, commissioners said Wednesday they will keep using pure carbon monoxide pumped into a stainless-steel chamber.
"The system we use is just as humane as lethal injection," Commissioner Gary Williams said.
Using either process results in a dog's death, Commissioner Jim Hoppel said. "I was unable to see a difference" between gas and shots.
Commissioners witnessed both methods as part of their research, which was prompted after a Vindicator story depicting the county's use of gas unleashed a storm of protests about the method. Some animal lovers believe lethal injection is more humane. "There are both sides," Williams said. "People have formed their own opinions."
Gas and shots are both legal and used by counties throughout the state.
The Columbiana County pound gasses more than 700 dogs a year.
Praise for pound workers
Commissioner Sean Logan praised county pound workers, saying they are professional and compassionate.
"They're doing a tremendous job that not many people would want to do," Logan said. "It's human neglect that has caused the county to employ people to put dogs to death. It's county commissioners who take the heat for choosing a method."
Logan added that it angers him that people's failure to spay or neuter their dogs contributes to the problem and results in the county's being forced to kill the animals.
When the issue arose several weeks ago, Logan and Hoppel said that they thought shots might be a gentler method and indicated they would support converting to it.
Their research prompted them to reconsider, they have said recently.
Hoppel said he's hopeful the county's newly instituted policy of requiring that all dogs adopted from the county pound be spayed or neutered will eventually curb the number of unwanted dogs that must be destroyed.
Commissioners have acknowledged, though, that the plan, implemented Jan. 1, could initially increase gassings by reducing adoptions.
The spay-neuter program, said to be the first in the state, boosts adoption costs from $15 to $50, which could discourage some prospective dog owners from getting a pet from the pound.