by Jade Skyye

Created on: February 28, 2009   Last Updated: August 11, 2009

Gassing chambers are a cruel and undeserved answer to overcrowding in animal shelters. It is not just the principle, it's the lack of morality and humanity that allows the murdering of potential pets to continue due to human ignorance. It is inhumane to make an animal suffer such a slow and miserable death. No one deserves this ill-treatment, least of all the companion, best friend, and/or family member. Anyone who has ever owned a dog knows that they dedicate themselves to their owner. All a dog wants to do is to please their owner. Gassing these companions is literal cruel and unusual punishment, especially since they haven't done anything wrong. All they want is to give love and be loved. Simplistic, yet noble.

A lot of times it takes more than one dose to kill the animals. Imagine the confusion of semi-consciousness and being covered in feces, blood, and urine. The spared animal(s) are surrounded by and possibly mistaken for another dead animal. In many facilities the chambers are crammed full of innocent lives, who certainly don't understand what is being done to them. They only feel the suffocation as their lungs fill with poison. It must be agony to have to endure this procedure, never mind having to experience it multiple times. After the gassing takes place, the bodies are disposed of in the same manner as garbage. This is unacceptable, they weren't just animals, they were or could have been someone's pet.

Some shelter workers wear ear plugs to muffle the loud, continuous screaming sounds. The air is filled with the desperate cries of dogs and cats as they plead for someone or something to make it all stop. The whining and crying is accompanied by sounds of clawing and scratching as the animals try to escape the torture. The anxiety, fear, and uncertainty cause chaos and fighting among the animals. All of this could be avoided by using humane euthanasia to allow the animals to die peacefully.

This is all the result of irresponsible humans. These animals never asked to be brought into the world. People with money on their mind and disregard for life continue to breed carelessly, while others act ignorant at the spay and neuter concept. Spaying or neutering is the very least that can be done; it would greatly reduce the number of strays and homeless animals left out roaming in the elements. In overcrowding situations, prevention is the best action to take and should bring some peace-of-mind to both shelter workers and animal lovers.

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