I wanted to let all the Dogster members in GA know about a rally taking place this Thursday, February 26th from 9:30 am until 2:30 pm.

CALL TO ACTION: RALLY ON THURSDAY
Georgia Voters for Animal Welfare (GVAW) will host a rally at the Capitol this Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009, in support of Grace’s Law, a bill to ban the use of animal gas chambers in Georgia. Members of Georgia’s animal advocacy community statewide are invited to attend.

The purpose of the rally is to raise the public’s awareness of gas chambers (like the one at the Spalding County Animal Shelter, shown at right) still being used to kill unwanted animals in at least 15 city and/or county animal control facilities statewide. An intended outcome of the peaceful demonstration is that Georgia voters will call or write their legislators and ask them to support a total ban on gas chambers.

The Humane Euthanasia Act of 1990 enacted a legislative ban on gas chambers with two exceptions: Counties with less than 25,000 residents were exempted and larger counties using gas chambers prior to 1990 were “grandfathered in” by written request, but they were not entitled to replace their chambers. In 2007, the Georgia Department of Agriculture was charged with multiple violations of the statute for allowing larger counties that were grandfathered in, including Cobb County, to replace and continue using gas chambers in their animal control facilities.

Gas chambers pose dangerous health risks for shelter employees and are inhumane to both the workers and animals, even if they are used properly. “The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) provides strict guidelines regarding the construction, operation and oversight of gas chambers and has consistently recommended lethal injection as the preferred method for euthanizing dogs and cats”, states GVAW member, Davis Cosey of Perry, Ga. “Many of Georgia’s active gas chambers are decades old, some were illegally installed and all of them are unreliable, unsafe, unregulated and inhumane.”

Tennessee banned gas chambers after a shelter employee died from carbon monoxide poisoning in 2002. In 2006, Liberty County Animal Control shut down their gas chamber, illegally installed in 2002, after a hound dog survived gassing. The dog, dubbed “Amazing Grace” by Liberty County shelter workers, was the inspiration for Grace’s Law. In June 2008, the Macon City Council unanimously passed an ordinance to switch from euthanasia by gas to lethal injection on or before July 1, 2009. Grace’s Law has been submitted to legislative counsel by Representatives Mark Hatfield, R-HD 177, and Tom Knox, R-HD 24.

Here are the details:

WHAT: The Gathering for Grace
WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 26, 9:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Washington Street entrance of the Georgia State Capitol
FOR MORE INFORMATION: E-mail chamblee.abernethy@hotmail.com or gavoters@darientel.net

CALL TO ACTION: Contact Your Legislators

Regardless of whether you can attend the demonstration, PLEASE CALL OR WRITE TO YOUR STATE SENATOR AND HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE TO EXPRESS YOUR SUPPORT OF THE PROPOSED BAN ON GAS CHAMBERS!

Here’s how to find out who are your Senator and Representative and how to contact them:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials

Enter your zip code. Then click on ‘State’ elected officials. Then enter your full address. You will see under Sonny Perdue’s name the names of your Senator and House Representative.

To learn more about gas chambers, visit the website of Animal Law Coalition:

http://www.animallawcoalition.com/gas-chambers

Then go to this website to get their contact information, bios, etc.:

http://www.legis.state.ga.us/

There are still many Georgia cities and counties known to be using gas chambers.

Ashburn, City of (in Turner County; no county facility; chamber housed in City of Ashburn)
Barnesville, (City of) Animal Shelter (in Lamar County; no county facility; chamber housed in City of Barnesville)
Bulloch County
Butts County Animal Control
Cobb County Animal Control (after court order in 2006 to cease using chamber)
Cordele, City of (in Crisp County)
Cuthbert, City of (in Randolph County; no county facility; chamber housed in City of Cuthbert)
Haralson County Animal Shelter
Hawkinsville, City of (in Pulaski County; no county facility)
Henry County Animal Control
Lakeland, City of (in Lanier County; no county facility)
Macon, City of (in Bibb County; no county facility; chamber operated in City of Macon, under the jurisdiction of Macon Police Animal Control. Macon City Council voted unanimously June 2008 to cease using chamber by July 1, 2009.)
Mitchell County Animal Control
Spalding County Animal Shelter
Vienna, City of Animal Shelter (in Dooly County; no county facility)
Warner Robins (in Houston County; no county facility)

Let’s help put a stop to this disgusting practice in Georgia and throughout the US. Thank you to Christine for barking this to me.

* Dogster member Star, one of the lucky ones.