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This text may not be edited or altered, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission. For editorial licensing of the pictures or text, please contact ZUMA Press at (949) 494.7704 or e-mail Info@zReportage.com.

Gas Chamber's Death Costly

12/01/2004

Text by © Lisa Sandberg/San Antonio Express-News/ZUMA Press

     The city health director said Tuesday that using lethal injection at the city pound would take years to implement and cost taxpayers as much as half a million dollars.

     Responding to demands that the city stop euthanizing unwanted animals with carbon monoxide gas, Dr. Fernando Guerra said, "There's no question (the transition to lethal injection) would be costly."

     Guerra, who oversees the city pound, spoke to several reporters before a town hall meeting in City Council Chambers on Tuesday night. The meeting was a response to public outcry over the way Animal Care and Control is run.

     Guerra said it is unrealistic for anyone to expect the city to make the transition quickly.

     "It might be five years, seven years or 10 years."

     Because animals would have to be handled individually, rather than killed in groups, "workers would be injecting animals around the clock," Guerra said. As a result, the city would have to hire between eight and 10 veterinarian technicians.

     For the second time in a week, Guerra and pound director Dr. William Lammers found themselves in the firing line of hundreds of animal lovers.

     A standing-room-only crowd of about 250 people voiced their outrage and offered ways to reduce the city's euthanasia rate.

     Close to 50,000 cats and dogs will be killed this year at the city's 60-year-old facility in Brackenridge Park, the highest per capita rate of any large U.S. city in the country. And San Antonio is the only large U.S. city that still uses the gas chamber.

     Tuesday's meeting was more subdued than the first one, at St. Mary's University a week before, which drew an overflow crowd of about 500 people.

     City Councilman Julián Castro called for the second town hall meeting to accommodate the scores of people who were unable to squeeze into the large hall at the SBC Technology Center the first night.

     The sustained outcry was prompted by last month's two-part Express-News series that focused on the city's passive, old-school approach to the issue of unwanted and lost animals.

     The directors of the pound heard from a diverse audience. Some speakers demanded stronger laws to crack down on the so-called "backyard breeders"; others called for the city to adopt specific goals for reducing the number of unwanted animals.

     Laura Stanford demanded the pound open its main kennels to the public, rather than just the adoption room, where only two dozen animals are kept at any one time.

     She also urged the city to think about redirecting some of the $12 million approved for a new facility to educational outreach and spay and neuter programs — reducing the need for a large facility.

     John Bachman, who heads a local group called Voice for Animals, said: "The main thing is Dr. Lammers has to go."

     Castro was joined by two other City Council members, Patti Radle and Roger Flores Jr.

     In recent weeks, the city has said it will hire a volunteer coordinator at the pound. Several city leaders also have said it is time to get rid of the gas chamber.

     "We have to start moving in a more humane direction," Radle said.

     This text may not be edited or altered, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission. For editorial licensing of the pictures or text, please contact ZUMA Press at (949) 494.7704 or e-mail Info@zReportage.com.

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