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September 9, 2005, 12 p.m.: Officials Shooting Dogs in Louisiana—Feds Must Hear From You Today!
In the latest and most graphic display of our government's abandonment of animal-handling guidelines in disasters that were created with PETA's help years ago, some law enforcement agencies are now shooting dogs left stranded in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.
Revolting video footage posted on the Web site of the Dallas Morning News shows officers shooting dogs. At least one of their victims survived the gunshots and was apparently left to die a slow, agonizing death amid debris from the storm.
Of course, shooting is not an approved, reasonable, or reliable method of animal control. In fact, The 2000 Report of the AVMA [American Veterinary Medical Association] Panel on Euthanasia—the veterinary medical authority on euthanasia—states, "[G]unshot should not be used for routine euthanasia of animals in animal control situations." This dangerous method often fails to achieve instantaneous unconsciousness; animals can be injured by initial gunshots and suffer tremendously before dying, as seems to be happening in St. Bernard Parish. Gunshot is also categorized as an inhumane method of killing in The Humane Society of the United States' "General Statement Regarding Euthanasia Methods for Dogs and Cats."
This horror for animals, which is but the latest of many to be seen in Katrina's wake, underscores the urgent need for you to call on those in charge, today, to end immediately their callous policies toward animals suffering and to make the plight of animals affected by these disasters a part of planned investigations and hearings.
You can improve the lives of dogs and cats suffering from cruelty and neglect.
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PETA's House Government Reform Committee Testimony
Heroes of the Storm
Stars Urge Officials to Take Action to Protect Animals in Disasters in PETA Ad
Read the Latest News From the Gulf Coast
Listen to PETA's Reports From New Orleans
Watch Footage of PETA's Life-Saving Work
See Pictures of PETA's Rescue Work
