The process of euthanizing unadopted or unadoptable animals at the Cullman County animal shelter will soon be done solely by lethal injection, following a decision by the county commission last week to pre-empt pending state legislation banning such methods as gassing and instead mandating the injection-only method.

The unanimous decision won’t have instant or dramatic repercussions for the six-person staff at the animal shelter. Four staff members are already trained, certified and licensed to perform the two-step injection procedure. Animal control director Tim McCoy said the shelter is already performing approximately a quarter of its euthanasia procedures by injection already.

But eventually the new law will require some additional expense. Because the injection method must be done one animal at a time and is more time consuming than gassing — which can be done en masse — an all-injection euthanasia policy will require at least one additional staff member.

And, unlike the gas chamber method, administering both sodium pentobarbital and xylazine — the two drugs required to euthanize animals via injection — the materials are expensive.

According to shelter office manager Candie Horsley, it costs the county an average of 37 cents to euthanize an animal in the shelter’s gas chamber. To accomplish the same task using lethal injection costs more than three dollars.

For an agency that is charged with carrying out a difficult job; one that’s hard on the people who see the surfeit of abandoned, injured, lost, feral or aggressive domestic animals in Cullman County, the potential strain on the shelter’s budget could limit their capabilities unless the state follows the passage of a mandated injection-only euthanasia bill with a pledge of subsidizing the difference in its cost.

And, she added, the financial toll can only complicate, for the shelter’s staff, the emotional toll of seeing first-hand the desperation and helplessness unadopted animals face on a daily basis.

“The bottom line is, I don’t think any method of euthanasia is good,” said Horsley. “They all produce the same end result, when what we’re trying to focus on, always, is raising our adoption and reclaim rate so that we don’t have to euthanize so many.

“What a lot of people don’t think about is the fact that we don’t have the luxury at the animal shelter to turn an animal away; we can’t say, ‘We’re not going to take in an animal because it’s a certain breed or it’s undesirable.’ We take them all in and we try to give them the most humane treatment — hopefully, to have them taken in to a good home — that we possibly can. And so many animals have problems or are unadoptable that it’s not easy.”

Indeed, the shelter is trying to narrow the gap between the number of adoptable animals that must be euthanized and the number that are actually adopted. In 2010, the shelter euthanized approximately 2,700 animals, about 1,500 of which were considered unadoptable because of severe injury, aggressiveness, disease and other factors. The remaining number, around 1,200, are candidates for adoption — a process that, through online services and round-the-clock adoption accommodations for potential pet owners, has seen some success in Cullman.

“Last year we moved 1,013 animals out to adopted homes,” said Horsley. “We have a great volunteer group of people that makes adopting an animal a seven-day-a-week thing. We do adoptions here at the shelter every day, and also at Tractor Supply and Pet Depot on weekends.  We have volunteers who will arrange your adoption at midnight, if that’s what you need in order to adopt a pet.”

McCoy said the staff is prepared for any challenges that the new policy may present, although he believes the transition will not be too stressful in the near term.

“Right now, I really don’t think it’s going to affect us, because we already have, on staff, four certified CET [certified euthanasia technicians]. Probably what will have to happen, because the injection method takes longer; it’s a more hands-on and involved process, is that we will have to hire a new person to help handle it.

“We will start doing it as soon as it’s required by the state; the county is giving us some time to make it a transition we can handle with the numbers and the staff we have now. We’re already inspected by the state and by the DEA. We already house the drugs used in the injection procedure, and we’re always — always — in compliance with all laws pertaining to administering euthanasia. What we hope people will understand is that it’s a tough job to have to do, and the staff does a good job both of dealing with that part of the job, and with following the law.”

The county commission is consulting with local legislators to ensure that any increase in shelter costs associated with moving to injection-only euthanasia will be subsidized by the state, if the bill before the legislature passes.

“There’s a law that the state cannot pass any unfunded mandates; that we have to be able to have a way to pay for anything they require that comes with a cost,” said commission chairman James Graves. “We’re working on making sure that we’ll be able to do that, since it’s going to cost a lot more to euthanize our surplus population of animals if we’re going to move to this method.”

The current animal control budget for Cullman County stands at $388,440 for the 2011 fiscal year. That figure includes all departmental expenses, including animals' food, personnel, utilities and, of course, euthanasia-related expenses. Some personal donations add to that figure, but not in any amount that could affect the shelter's strategic direction.



* Benjamin Bullard can be reached by e-mail at bbullard@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 270.