The City of West Plains Animal Control is pleased to announce the destruction of the old euthanasia gas chamber that was once used at the city pound. In doing so, the Humane Society of the United States is offering the City a $3,000 grant to the Animal Control Department.
Gas chambers were once widely used as a humane method of euthanasia, but in recent years its popularity has dropped off. Many states, in fact, have started to ban them totally. The City of West Plains took a proactive approach and discontinued use of the machine in 2012.
The City was recently approached by the Humane Society to receive a grant to destroy the machine. On January 30, the machine was removed from storage and destroyed.
Animal Control Officer Brad Vannada would like to thank the Humane Society for their partnership in this endeavor and to the city crews that helped take the machine out of commission.
“I would also like to thank the city administration, council and citizens for their continued support of our animal control program. My hope is the City of West Plains Animal Control will be and continue to be a model department for other animal welfare agencies across the state,” Vannada stated.
