Nevada’s Last Animal Gas Chamber Shuts Down

The last carbon monoxide gas chamber in Nevada used to euthanize animals was recently decommissioned thanks in part from a grant from The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The move was a part of an ongoing 2013 campaign by HSUS to end the cruel use of gas chambers to euthanize dogs and cats in United States shelters—an effort that has seen at least 69 facilities shuttered—more than two-thirds that had existed at the time. The development in Nevada was followed by the passing of a bill to ban gas chambers in the state of Utah, passed by a vote of 8 to 1. The seven of Utah’s 57 shelters that still use the method will phase out gas chamber use for companion animals by mid-2017 and for all other animals one year later. According to HSUS, the Nevada chamber has been sent to the National Museum of Animals & Society in Los Angeles to be displayed as “a reminder of an era best relegated to history.” Museum executive director and founder Carolyn Merino Mullin says it will also “serve as a celebration of the steps being taken to make our society more humane for animals each and every day.”