There has been some reaction to my post last week listing the policies the city currently follows in regard to euthanasia at our animal shelter. The preferred practice is to use injection in most cases but the staff reserves the right to use carbon monoxide euthanasia in limited circumstances. In that post I stated that our methods are recognized by the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Humane Society of the United States as humane. In an earlier post, I noted that injection is the preferred method by both organizations and have stated that carbon monoxide euthanasia is considered humane only under specific conditions, all of which our shelter meets and the guidelines published by both organizations are strictly followed.
 
In an e-mail copied to the Council today, inclusion of the HSUS was called an "egregious error."
 
Not so: the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, a program of the HSUS, states on their website, copyrighted as of 2010, "It was recommended that carbon monoxide be described only as conditionally acceptable for dogs and cats and wildlife, with emphasis placed on the condition of the chamber and the barrel and the loading of animals into the chamber." The guidelines from the HSUS aren't secret; they are broadly posted, even at the Humane Society International.
 
Nothing has ever been posted to this blog knowingly incorrect and will never be. Any of us can err and I have been wrong, either by typo or reliance on a bad report. Those instances are always corrected when I learn of them. (And if the error could have led to a faulty conclusion, the error is struck and the correct information inserted immediately following. Typos are just corrected.) Most information presented here is linked to a substantiating source. Posts containing mere Opinion are clearly categorized. While significant effort is made to be completely accurate in all statements, should you ever find any statement that is blatantly wrong, I hope you will let me know!