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Legislator Seeks to Ban Use of Gas Chamber to Euthanize Pets

photo of dog
SHANNON Y
/
SHUTTERSTOCK
A legislator is concerned about the methods some shelters use to euthanize animals.

When animals are put to sleep in Ohio, they are most often euthanized with medications administered by a veterinarian. But there have been some cases where dogs and cats have been put down in gas chambers. There’s a bill that would make that practice illegal.

State Rep. David Leland (D-Columbus) says most veterinarians use drugs to euthanize animals but he knows of one Ohio county that has put animals down in gas chambers, which can cause animals to suffer before they die.

“Ohio has had a history of using gas chambers for euthanasia. So without this kind of ban that my legislation would create, there’s always a fear that Ohio could slide back and revert to using this kind of gas chamber and this ban will make sure that doesn’t happen.”

The bill, which has yet to be formally introduced, already has bipartisan co-sponsors. Ohio is one of four states where gas chambers for animal euthanasia are still legal.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.