KY legislature okays shelters using guns to put down animals

A bill that would have prohibited gunshot in animal shelters (HB 435) died in the Senate during the 2002 session. After that session, in July 2002, we all saw the stories of the Henry County shelter shootings and the Marshall County shootings.

ONCE AGAIN, the Senate is going to let this bill die. The Senate Committee Chair, Sen. Albert Robinson of London,KY insisted that the No Gunshot provision be taken out or HE would not let the bill out of committee. The provision was reluctantly removed by Sen. Buford, the bill sponsor, to get it out of committee. Once it got out of committee, Sen. Buford filed a floor amendment to put it back in and NOW the Senate is going to let it set there and die!!!!!

We must get everyone we know to call Senate members TODAY and EVERY DAY until Mon., Mar. 24. We need to generate about 10,000 contacts.

REMEMBER: Be Polite When Calling and ask them to call House Bill 435 for a floor vote.

The Senate Floor Majority Leader is Sen. Dan Kelly of Springfield. Home: 859-336-9048; Local Office: 859-336-7723; Frankfort Office: 502-564-2450; Email: [email protected]

Below is some suggested wording to send to your Senator. Please put it into your own words. Be FIRM but Polite.

Aside from not protecting and caring for our animals, you are condoning the cruel and inhumane shooting of dogs in animal shelters. By not supporting the bill, you are saying to Kentuckians and the remainder of the United States that we are a cruel and uncaring state. No wonder we have been featured on national television in such a disgraceful way. You will have another opportunity on March 24 and 25 to do the RIGHT thing. Vote for Senator Buford's amendment and then vote to pass the bill in its original form.

Call the LEGISLATIVE MESSAGE LINE... 1-800-372-7181

Are these people insane?! What kind of person could volunteer in a shelter, then shoot the animals? This is like giving sadistic people a cruel new hobby.

Why hasn't this received national attention?!?!?!

PETA needs to get their act together. Instead of an ad campaign comparing chickens to Holocaust victims, THIS is something they should get behind and make a fuss over.

Sue, I'm for that idea! Let's email PETA and tell them to quit putting models in lettuce bikinis and start doing their real job, PROTECTING ANIMALS!!

I agree! It might actually make some people respect PETA for a change!

Seriously, there are organizations like PETA, and the American Humane Society, that should bring this to the attention of the national news media. This is something that shouldn't be tolerated.

Seriously, what is wrong with people?? I voulentee at a no kill shelter because I couldn't stand the thought of going in seeing an animal & coming back another day knowing that it was put down. It would be a cold day you know where before I would put a perfectly healthy animal down, but then talk about adding insult to injury. With all the painless ways of putting an animal down why would anyone say that it was Ok to shoot them, has our country lost all it's marbles???

Not that this is right, because it is not, but this is not the only shelter that practices this type of euthanasia.

Done correctly, it can be quite painless for the animals, certainly moreso then gassing them with a hose hooked up from a car's exhaust system like on shelter recently was discovered to do. But, I think the trouble with this is that amateurs are probably doing this and prolonging the suffering of the animals for the thrill of it all. And that is why every animal that has to be put down, should be given an injection and allowed to slip away peacefully, though that doesn't always happen either, not all the time at any rate.

the solution lies in education and spay and neuter programs being implement nationwide at every vet clinic. Then the over population of animals won't be such an issue.

stepping down off the soapbox now, and don't get me wrong, I am not condoning what these monsters are doing.

If done correctly, a gunshot is a quick way to go.
Incorrectly, it is horrible.
Gassing is horrible.
A lot of shelters where I live still gas animals, the animals spend their last minutes of life in utter panic trying to struggle out of little boxes. The gas takes minutes to kill them.

A shot to the back of the head with an appropriate claiber gun would be very fast, tho it would also be very messy. People should be trained on how to handle the gun, where to shoot the animal, and what size caliber to use.

As Hissy pointed out, this may be being done by people who dont' know what they are doing or who think it is fun, and that is very sad.
It is a sad fact that many animals have to be put down, by any method.

I think that most people know that shooting an animal in the head at close range with something big will kill it quick.

Before piling on accusations of cruelty, I would like to see documentation on HOW these animals are being shot.

If someone is doing body shots, I have a problem with it.
If someone is using a small caliber like a .22, I have a problem with it because unless it is a very small animal that probably won't kill them instantly.
I have read that in some states, a 12 gauge shotgun is used as close range. That would be FAST. messy, gross, but not much will survive that.

If I personally was being euthanized and letha injeciton was not an option I was given, I would ask to be shot in the back of the head with a .44

I am for QUICK. I get tierd of seeing people jump all over any use of guns without actually looking at how the guns are being used.

Bendy

Bendy and hissy, I'm sure you're right that it can be humane under certain conditions, certainly better than gassing if done properly. However, that is something that would have to be closely legislated and monitored, to make sure that the animals were put down humanely. My other big problem is that I have a feeling that the people who could do this are NOT, for the most part, people we want taking care of animals. If you handed me a syringe and asked me to put down an animal obviously in need of mercy, I could do that. However, if you handed me a gun, I could not, even if I were given the appropriate instructions.

why doing something with a guns is 'bad' or somehow worse than doing it another way.

in the end, the same thing was done.

I would rather put an animal down with a gun, actually, because I wouldn't have to try and find a vein on the animal's arm.
I would think that shooting an animal correctly takes a lot less skill.

just wear earplugs.

Bendy

I don't think that using a gun would be worse, and certainly you could make a case that some creeps would like to give fatal injections to animals, but it just seems to me that there would be less control over how it was done, and would attract MORE of the wrong people, if guns are used. Hey, if they could get it together and legislate it so that there are enforced guidelines for how it is done, and psychological testing done on the people who would be doing it, I would support that.

As for myself, I just don't like guns, and I think many people feel the same way, so naturally I would be suspicious of people who could shoot an animal, until I felt that their motives were the right ones.

If Lotsocats were suggesting shooting vs gassing with car exhaust, this discussion would seem more logical to me. However, if I had a choice-painless injection or shooting into an animal's head, I would definitely choose the injection. I believe the choice is between those two.

Many shelter animals were someone's very much loved pet, who has got lost or whose owner died. How would those owners have their animal put down, if given a choice? I believe it would be by injection. What would you choose for your pets? If a pet is in agony and the only available choice is a gun, it's logical to use one. I hope the phone line is flooded with calls.

Done incorrectly injection is not always the painless way to go. The proper way is to sedate the animal first, then give the injection. If not, it is a horrible way for an animal to die and i will spare anyone the details as I have witnessed this first hand long ago.

The sad part of this entire thread is that there is an overpopulation of animals to begin with to make these type of measures even considered.

If the shelter has the money, and can sedate and inject the animal, then yes, it is a painless way to go. Sadly, this is not often the case on how it happens.

ya know, they give horrible people that have murdered a painless shot but they are going to shoot a poor animal. that makes me so upset. it doesn't matter if it is quick and painless, there is going to be a lound bang and that is scare. I just can't even imagine. why can't people just treat animals with the rescept they deserve.

Because regrettably, animals don't have much of a voice. They can't vote, so they don't count, and the only ones who can stand up for them are people such as yourself.

The only way to change the laws for animals, is to change the laws. It is not to chase down ONE abuser, it is to lobby and campaign and write letters and call your legislator and get involved. Most people believe cats are disposable and this type of action against them doesn't even phase a person like that.

To quote lotsocats:

We must get everyone we know to call Senate members TODAY and EVERY DAY until Mon., Mar. 24. We need to generate about 10,000 contacts.
......Call the LEGISLATIVE MESSAGE LINE... 1-800-372-7181
______________________________________________________________________

The number is for the citizens of Kentucky. The message could benefit the animals in our own states. Get involved!

Agreed Jeanie, and if anyone would like some help drafting a letter to their congressman, drop me an email- my files are full of letters sent out over the years.