How Are Animals at PACC Euthanized?
First of all, my compliments to Tim Vanderpool on an incisive piece of journalism (“A Letter From Dogpatch,” Nov. 26). That article gave me food for thought—most of it disturbing. Vanderpool may not have even thought to ask whether the euthanasia agent administered at the Pima Animal Care Center is even an acceptable one. Sodium pentobarbital is generally accepted by most veterinarians as the most humane drug for euthanizing an animal, but it can be expensive and, as a controlled substance, is usually not available to anyone other than a veterinarian. If non-veterinary personnel at PACC are the people administering this drug, they may be breaking the law; if PACC is not using this drug at all, then they are guilty of extraordinary cruelty. (Even sodium pentobarbital can lead to a cruel death if injected into the body cavity or directly into the heart rather than intravenously.) Most readers will probably feel disgusted, angry and powerless after reading the heartbreaking assertions mad
