Gunshot not humane for shelter animals

To the editor:

The American Humane Association has recently been contacted by several concerned Alaskans regarding the recent killing by gunshot of eight animals at the Houston Animal Protection and Safety Shelter. Gunshot is an inhumane and unacceptable method of euthanizing shelter animals. Euthanasia by injection (EBI) is the only humane method of euthanizing these animals, and we urge the city of Houston to adopt EBI as its sole method of euthanasia going forward. American Humane provides consultation and certification training in EBI, and we gladly offer our assistance to the city of Houston to help implement this change.

We also urge the city of Houston to reach out to other local animal sheltering organizations for assistance in placing animals before the decision is made to euthanize them. Animal sheltering agencies should make every effort to place adoptable animals into loving homes. We certainly recognize that many of the towns in Alaska are separated from each other by large distances, but Houston’s close proximity to Anchorage makes the transfer of animals to other organizations a viable alternative to euthanasia in many cases.

Debrah Schnackenberg

Vice President, Animal Protection Division

American Humane Association