The current legislative session brings another opportunity to pass Grace’s Law, also known as House Bill 788. Grace’s Law is named after a hound who survived gassing in the now-defunct Liberty county gas chamber. The Georgia Voters for Animal Welfare (GVAW) estimates that at least 11 gas chambers still operate in Georgia, some illegally.
It may shock some animal-lovers that their tax dollars are still being used to kill shelter pets by this outmoded and inhumane method. As the no kill movement gathers momentum, citizens are demanding change, and an important one is to end the gratuitous suffering caused to animals killed in shelters. “Euthanasia” is a gross misnomer for the killing of pets as a means of population control. It is doubly unacceptable to use the term to describe a method in which animals can experience prolonged and extreme distress. Rabbi and Macon City Councilman Larry Schlesinger witnessed the gassing of seventeen dogs and was instrumental in the dismantlement of the Macon chamber. He wrote of the experience:
"The sounds of shrilled panic and desperation that I heard through the gas chamber's thick cinderblock walls clearly indicated to me that those canines were quite alert and conscious that something terribly out of the ordinary was happening to them. Their chorus of 'squealings' continues to haunt me, and as a result, I am thoroughly convinced that there is nothing at all 'humane' about this practice."
The number of gas chambers in the state is shrinking. The no kill movement is growing. It is time for Georgians to close the legal loopholes that allow the continued gassing of pets. If you’ve never lobbied for anything before, fear not: GVAW has prepared detailed instructions. Act now for a more humane Georgia. The animals are depending on you.
The following still use the gas chamber to kill pets, and there may be others:
1. City of Ashburn (In Turner County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.) 2. Butts County Animal Control 3. Cobb County Animal Control 4. City of Cordele (Crisp County) 5. City of Cuthbert (In Randolph County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.) 6. Haralson County Animal Shelter 7. City of Hawkinsville (In Pulaski County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.) 8. Henry County Animal Control 9. City of Lakeland (In Lanier County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.) 10. Mitchell County Animal Control 11. City of Vienna Animal Shelter (In Dooly County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)
While banning the gas chamber won't necessarily save lives at first, a pyrrhic victory is better than abject failure any day.
Grace's Law, H.B. 788 would ban the gas chamber in Georgia animal shelters
