The Athens County Dog Shelter is not ready to make the move from gas chamber euthanasia to lethal injections, county commissioners said at their meeting yesterday.
The dog shelter has euthanized 34 dogs this year, compared with more than 200 in the same period last year. While this is an improvement from the average of 45 dogs killed per week over the past 14 and a half years, the shelter should not make the switch until they are fully staffed, Commissioner Bill Theisen said.
The shelter is currently working with two and a half employees, but it requires four employees for a full staff. We're the closest now that we've ever been to making the dog shelter work the way it's supposed to
Theisen said. But we're not ready.
Along with manpower problems, Theisen said the shelter lacks the funds necessary to change euthanasia methods.
Commissioners Mark Sullivan and Lenny Eliason expressed concerns for the emotional effects lethal injections would have on dog shelter employees. Employees must sometimes hold the dogs while injecting them.
If it was financially feasible I would have no problem with it Sullivan said. My concern is the emotional strain on our employees
who would have to hold the animals as they die. I know I couldn't do it.
Eliason suggested that the Friends of the Shelter group appeal to members of the state legislature about changing state laws to require lethal injections. State law does not forbid any method of euthanasia, including gunshot and electrocution, as long as the procedure is humane, Eliason said.
The dog shelter recently received a donation of 7,000 pounds of dog food and bones. Shelter supervisor Sherry Armstrong registered for the food through a group called Homeward Bound.
Although Oprah Winfrey's production company signed a contract with commissioners for a tentative visit on March 14 to the dog shelter, plans fell through. Commissioner Theisen said the shelter received a call from the company in March, asking if the shelter was full. At that time it was not, and the company did not visit as planned.
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