Humane euthanasia

[swan91]

You know what? if it wasnt for the disease factor, my council just put out a report that 350+ cats are euthanased every year in my area. I would have no issue with getting freshly euthanased cats from a shelter. ... EXCEPT for the disease factor. Such a shame. Cat overpopulation is such a problem.

AND most importantly the fact that the animals are euthanised through barbituate overdose. Enough Barbituates to kill any reptile faster than any cross species disease.
If you do feed any unconventional prey items to you animal, be sure of how they were killed. Best method being a fast and effective cervical dislocation, blunt force trauma, or CO2 if killing large numbers of animals that are difficult to handle. Personally i dont consider CO2 to be more humane than cervical dislocation or Blunt force trauma /gunshot/ captivebolt.

 

[andynic07]

AND most importantly the fact that the animals are euthanised through barbituate overdose. Enough Barbituates to kill any reptile faster than any cross species disease.
If you do feed any unconventional prey items to you animal, be sure of how they were killed. Best method being a fast and effective cervical dislocation, blunt force trauma, or CO2 if killing large numbers of animals that are difficult to handle. Personally i dont consider CO2 to be more humane than cervical dislocation or Blunt force trauma /gunshot/ captivebolt.

I think that it is easier to get right and I think the pain from getting cervical dislocation wrong would be very high.

 

[Rox.n.Lix]

huh. I have never really looked into how precisely animals in shelters were euthanased, but it makes sense. I guess i had assumed they would be gassed, since that or blunt force are the only RSPCA approved methods, but naturally now you mention it, that would be when killing animals for consumption. I imagine it would be the kind of thing the people at the shelter would tell you when you asked them for their dead cats.....????

I think it was more the principle of waste not want not..... (that and i really dislike cats. excess, stray, overpopualated cats) Are there really people around that stupid to feed their animals any old thing without finding out that kind of information? I might as well have brought home the dead rat i saw all fly blown on the side the street today..... :/

 

[swan91]

I think that it is easier to get right and I think the pain from getting cervical dislocation wrong would be very high.

Easier to get right.. not necessarily easier for the animal.. Just make sure that you get it right... with rats its really not hard. For a while pet rats were cheaper to buy than the frozen ones. So i purchased these near adult rats for $1 each, kept them alive for 2 weeks to ensure the rats were free of any chemical residues etc (even after asking if she had treated them with anything). Then i humanely euthanised them with Cervical Dislocation and froze them to kill parasites. Im not saying that cervical dislocation is as easy in other animals such as rabbits or kittens, i was just bringing to light the fact that CO2 isnt as humane as some may think.
World Society for the protection of animals "Animals may experience pain and distress prior to loss of consciousness, associated with breathlessness, from increased concentrations of CO2 in the blood and acidosis. Based upon current research to date on humans and other animals there are sufficient welfare concerns to indicate that this method should not be used for euthanasia. Slow acting, At high concentrations, CO2 dissolves in the moisture of the animal’s air ways producing carbonic acid that causes irritation"
As of yet CO2 is only approved for killing laboratory animals not dogs or cats due to welfare concerns.

 

[andynic07]

Easier to get right.. not necessarily easier for the animal.. Just make sure that you get it right... with rats its really not hard. For a while pet rats were cheaper to buy than the frozen ones. So i purchased these near adult rats for $1 each, kept them alive for 2 weeks to ensure the rats were free of any chemical residues etc (even after asking if she had treated them with anything). Then i humanely euthanised them with Cervical Dislocation and froze them to kill parasites. Im not saying that cervical dislocation is as easy in other animals such as rabbits or kittens, i was just bringing to light the fact that CO2 isnt as humane as some may think.
World Society for the protection of animals "Animals may experience pain and distress prior to loss of consciousness, associated with breathlessness, from increased concentrations of CO2 in the blood and acidosis. Based upon current research to date on humans and other animals there are sufficient welfare concerns to indicate that this method should not be used for euthanasia. Slow acting, At high concentrations, CO2 dissolves in the moisture of the animal’s air ways producing carbonic acid that causes irritation"
As of yet CO2 is only approved for killing laboratory animals not dogs or cats due to welfare concerns.

I am under no false pretences here, I gas my own rats and can see them suffer a bit before they die but that is the method recommended by the RSPCA so I use that method. It is also a lot less messy than throwing rats onto concrete like some people do. As for euthanising other animals they usually use drugs and assume that there is no pain because the animal is out of it when they pass. I am pretty sure the carbonic acid is only produced if the CO2 is introduced too slowly. Can I ask how you perform your cervical dislocation as I have never been told or shown how?

 

[Firepac]

I moved these posts from another thread which was getting way off topic, feel free to continue the discussion here but keep it nice and within site rules.

 

[andynic07]

I moved these posts from another thread which was getting way off topic, feel free to continue the discussion here but keep it nice and within site rules.

That was very tricky of you.

 

[sd1981]

I don't want to sound dumb but what is cervical dislocation? I have only ever CO2'd any prey items.

 

[Trimeresurus]

I don't want to sound dumb but what is cervical dislocation? I have only ever CO2'd any prey items.

Breaking the neck, basically.

 

[andynic07]

Breaking the neck causing the spinal cord to be severed.

 

[sd1981]

Ok, I've seen that done to rabbits, didnt know what it was called.... Thanks...

 

[andynic07]

Looks like this thread has died of natural causes. Pun intended.

 

[andynic07]

It would appear that cervical dislocation should only be performed by trained persons after some kind of light sedation. I know this is only one study and I am still open to other ideas and would still like to know how AMS05 carried out her cervical dislocation.

 

[thomasssss]

. Can I ask how you perform your cervical dislocation as I have never been told or shown how?

ive never done it myself (as i dont breed rats) but when a mate of mine used to he would force the head as far back as possible holding his thumb behind its head to hold the rest of the spine straight , then twist it around with a rolling motion , it was all done quickly though in one motion and he said he could feel a pop or crack as the spine snapped , the rats used to twitch around alot afterwards though but stopped completely and die shortly afterwards so it could of just been nerves or whatever it is

im not sure myself if this is the right way to do it though as i believe he was "self taught" so to say (which is why ive held off posting it) so if it isnt then please there is no need to flame me over it , just put forward your technique , my mate no longer keeps snakes either so he isnt killing any rats this way anymore , just so you know

 

[andynic07]

ive never done it myself (as i dont breed rats) but when a mate of mine used to he would force the head as far back as possible holding his thumb behind its head to hold the rest of the spine straight , then twist it around with a rolling motion , it was all done quickly though in one motion and he said he could feel a pop or crack as the spine snapped , the rats used to twitch around alot afterwards though but stopped completely and die shortly afterwards so it could of just been nerves or whatever it is

im not sure myself if this is the right way to do it though as i believe he was "self taught" so to say (which is why ive held off posting it) so if it isnt then please there is no need to flame me over it , just put forward your technique , my mate no longer keeps snakes either so he isnt killing any rats this way anymore , just so you know

I have just been looking over the net for methods and there is a pretty good video on tube "killing feeder rats by cervical dislocation" and in that video he grabs the rat in a similar way but pull the head in a direction away from the body and you hear the cracks as well but the big difference is the rat was motionless instantly. Not sure but the movement could be a sign of life and possible distress. Thanks for the post though, i am after a range of answers with possible right and wrong ways so I can weigh up both sides of the argument.

 

[Bluetongue1]

….World Society for the protection of animals "Animals may experience pain and distress prior to loss of consciousness, associated with breathlessness, from increased concentrations of CO2 in the blood and acidosis. Based upon current research to date on humans and other animals there are sufficient welfare concerns to indicate that this method should not be used for euthanasia. Slow acting, At high concentrations, CO2 dissolves in the moisture of the animal’s air ways producing carbonic acid that causes irritation"
As of yet CO2 is only approved for killing laboratory animals not dogs or cats due to welfare concerns.

Much of what is said in the quote is actually incorrect. For example, the potential carbonic acid irritation of the nasal mucosa has been investigated using appropriate method and control and found not to be an issue in rats and mice. If memory serves me, this is, however, an issue in rabbits.
There are a number papers I read but I did not record them and nor do I remember all the fine detail. I will see what I can dig up when I get the time over the next few days.

Blue

 

[jairusthevirus21]

I think destruction of the brain via blunt forced trauma is the most humane method... it just messy at times.

 

[Bluetongue1]

The above method is only suitable for small animals with relatively thin cranial protection. It also requires a measure of physical coordination in its execution (pun not intended) and if you are only using it intermittently, the required motor skills might be rusty enough to get it wrong.


I believe you could go through each of the approved methods of euthanasia, with respect to animal groups they are approved for, and find some minor short coming. No one method has shown itself to be perfect for any given animal. If there was, then there would be no discussion on the given group. That is not the case.

The question then becomes, how significant are the short comings and are any differences in the magnitude and nature of their effects, sufficient to warrant choosing one approved method over another? I am of the personal opinion that so long as an approved method is used for the specific type of animal to be dispatched and the correct technique is utilised in the process, the answer will be NO in the vast majority of cases, if not all. Bear in mind, this does not stop science from trying to improve on current methods, their applications and their techniques.

Blue

 

[andynic07]

It also requires a measure of physical coordination in its execution (pun not intended) and if you are only using it intermittently, the required motor skills might be rusty enough to get it wrong.

I think this is a good point and the same could also be said for cervical dislocation , I have also read that cervical dislocation generally fails to stop breathing in roughly 20% of cases because of this fact, this same study also states that this is not a good method of euthanasia for rats over 200 grams due to the larger neck muscles.

 

[mikey_mike]

Just had a bizarre & slightly disturbing experience with some wild rats - nothing to do with reptile food. I just caught one in a cage trap overnight & it had given birth to a litter of baby rats. I put them all in a container hooked up to the soda stream together - mum died quickly, as usually happens, but the babys just would not die - seemed to lose consciousness & started taking agonal breaths, but would then revive quickly when the CO2 supply was stopped.

The most plausible explanation that I can come up with is that the baby rats fetal hemoglobin allowed them to extract sufficient O2 & that my killing chamber isn't sufficiently airtight for infant rats. Next time I'll stick to blunt force, but I guess this is a problem for anyone feeding pinkys to small snakes.