COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Branch County Animal Control’s outdated and little used gas chamber has again drawn fire from critics who want the practice to put down dogs in the county ended and the machine taken out of service. The latest criticism was aired at yesterday’s County Board of Commissioner’s work meeting and came during the public comment period at the beginning of the session.
Edie Bauschard said she was speaking for a group of concerned citizens who believe Branch County should no longer be known as the apparent last county in Michigan still using a gas chamber for disposal of strays. Baushcard told Commissioners, “It kind of looks bad when you’re the last one to leave the party, as someone said, and it says something about our humanity the way we treat those that are the most helpless, whether it be children, whether it be our animals”.
Bauschard supports EBI, or euthanasia by drug, and would prefer the county contract it out rather than have it administered by County Animal Control Officer Ernie Baker, who can have a difficult time delivering the shots when they have to be given an aggressive animal. Since 2013, of the 700 plus stray dogs taken in by the county, only six have been euthanized, disposed of last year in the carbon monoxide chamber.
A 2013 Senate passed bill in Lansing that would outlaw the gas chambers is still awaiting action in the Michigan House.
