The Green River Animal Control has seen delays in permanently removing the gas chamber to euthanize animals.

The Green River Animal Control has seen delays in permanently removing the gas chamber to euthanize animals.

GREEN RIVER – As members of the animal rights group, Wyoming Against Gas Chambers, wait for the abolishment of carbon monoxide to euthanize animals at animal control, the city of Green River continues to see delays in receiving parts needed at the shelter in order to complete the transition.

“At this point, we cannot offer a date when carbon monoxide will no longer be utilized in any euthanasia,” Reed Clevenger, city administrator revealed in a Sept. 7 email, despite saying back in February that the gas chamber was going to be abolished. “As we have been purchasing equipment and setting things up to safely make injection a more common means of euthanasia, more will need to be done.”

He added, “Once all the equipment is in place and the room set-up is complete, staff will still be evaluating each case with both options available until we are certain it is the right time to complete the transition.”

Clevenger mentioned that they continue to work with local and regional veterinarians on their processes and the changes they are adopting.

“We have ordered and purchased parts that have been on long lead times due to sourcing issues plaguing all industries,” he said. “Now with most everything in, getting out of the summer months, where we are limited in staff for other projects, we will be coordinating the build out and repairs to the animal shelter that are needed.

“We do not have a specific time frame on that for this fall at this time but can provide an update as it moves forward.”

Chief of Police Tom Jarvie commented on the current shelter situation in Southwest Wyoming.

“While our shelter is not full, we continue to be contacted almost daily by other shelters or citizens from other municipalities wanting their animals placed in our shelter,” said Jarvie.” We often allow this with an out-of-town surrender fee in the case of individual pet owners or sheltering agreements with other entities.”

Jarvie pointed out that they try to only to do this when they believe they can place that pet in a good home.

“That being said, we know other shelters are in max capacity based on how their protocols work and their resources however, the overflow to our shelter from other communities is stretching our resources even more at this time,” he shared. “I would encourage those who wish to have a positive influence on the lives of pets in our community to be actively engaged in supporting their local shelters. There are many volunteer, fostering and adopting opportunities available.

“Simply pointing out how you believe others should perform their duties is less helpful than you committing your own time and resources as our volunteers regularly do.”

Rock Springs Animal Control administrative sergeant Amanda Salazar said it’s gas chamber was hardly ever utilized when she took over in July 2020.

“When I first came in, the girls told me how they don’t utilize the gas chamber very much,” Salazar explained. “It would be very rare to use it. They’d use it to put a difficult, feral cat down or a diseased squirrel.”

According to Salazar, by October of 2020, Rock Springs councilman Tim Savage contacted Salazar to tell her about a grant opportunity through the Humane Society of the United States for $3,000 that animal control administrators were able to obtain and get rid of the gas chamber.

Salazar said that by Dec. 21, 2020, the gas chamber at the Rock Springs Animal Control was completely removed.

In the meantime, animal control officers are using the injection method to euthanize animals and it “just takes one officer” to administer the injection, Salazar said.

“There are cases when they help each other, especially if it involves a vicious dog,” she added.

The area that housed the gas chamber at the Rock Springs Animal Control is currently used to store necessities for animals, such as blankets, cat litter, kitten pellets and other items.

The money they received from the grant was used to purchase cat kennels as well.

On Friday, Sept. 30, Clevenger said that the city of Green River got an offer from the humane society quite some time ago to remove and discontinue the use of the gas chamber.

“There was a lot of discussion on the issue,” said Clevenger. “At that time, our council began to get emails – tens of thousands — from humane society and those who are pushing to get rid of the chamber.”

Clevenger stated that this brought further discussion into the council meetings and they were directed to get more information from their staff, including local and regional entities and veterinarians on safe practices.

“We were approached again on the grant they could offer and we decided not to bring another agreement to the governing body and having to follow any specific guidelines it may have called for,” he said. “We let them know we intended to move forward in consultation with local veterinarians. They were glad to hear that local veterinarians were being engaged in assisting our efforts. They also mentioned they could help in other areas of grant funding at any point to assist with drug purchase, remodeling the medical room, training or anything that might help with the transition. We have been moving this forward on our budget.”

He added, “There have been a number of supply chain issues and not all have been specific to the cages. We have also had the staff work with other agencies and veterinarians for feedback on what we are implementing. We also had to do some building repairs for that room.”

He said that the building’s staff are currently working on parks and recreation issues but “now that all the items are in, we are working with them to finish out the cabinets and rooms in the early November timeline.”

Editor’s Note: This is the third story of a three-part series, covering the removal of the animal shelter gas chamber in Green River.

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