United States Animal Protection work to end inhumane killings

1. UGA law credited for article
   
   USAP Press Release by Reagan
   
   Filed under: SALDF | Tags: gas chamber, Georgia, press release, Spalding County, United States Animal Protection
   The Official Press Release from United States Animal Protection, Inc.:
   
   Thousands of Animals Were Dragged to Their Deaths and Suffocated in this Gas Chamber. This Will End Forever July 1st.
   Please call the county manager and ask this chamber be disassembled and removed immediately.
   Please ask them to confirm when this gas chamber is sent to the landfill and destroyed.
   We do not want another animal to ever suffer in this chamber. It is time a spay/neuter ordinance is implemented in Griffin, GA. Speak to the county manager about making needed changes in this county that will curb the pet over-population problem. Please continue to rescue from Spalding. It  is still a high kill shelter..
   God Rest the Souls of the Animals that Suffered so Horribly in The Gas Chamber. God Heal the Souls of the Rescuers that Understand and Feel Their Pain. Help us find the strength to fight another day for the animals.
   
   U.S. Animal Protection has been in negotiations with the county manager and county attorney of Spalding County, Griffn, GA. Animal Shelter to end the gassings of animals.  USAP expressed severe opposition to the gassing of animals and exposed the shelter for cruel killngs.
   Dr.Hopkins (assisted the Congressional review of the Animal Welfare Act revision), Hillarie Allison, Founder of Rescued Unwanted Furry Friends Foundation and I, all members of U.S. Animal Protection, released publicly an immediate cease and desist letter to end gassing at the Spalding County Animal Shelter.
   Dr. Hopkins and I educated the county attorney, the county manager and local sheriff about the inhumanity and cruelty of the gas chamber. I referred the county officials to the  “Euthanasia Manual” by Rebecca Rhodes which proves injection is less expensive and more humane than gassing.
   I made the county officials aware of my intentions and that I would be contacting a regulatory agency. I contacted  the Office of the District Attorney and the GBI regarding the cruelty occurring in the Spalding County shelter as well as other shelters in the state of Georgia. We reminded the office that gassing was now illegal in the state of Georgia.
   Georgia shelters must be exposed for cruel killings. The cruelty must be brought to light before we will see the county officials make the necessary changes from gassing to IV injection.
   While we at USAP oppose the killing of healthy animals, we are realistic and know that killing will continue in Georgia shelters. We must at least see that they will not suffer when they are euthanized. We at USAP will work with county officials to implement a mandatory spay/neuter ordinance in Spalding County, Georgia.
   Cruel killings occur in many shelters throughout the U.S.  Cruelty in animal shelters must be exposed before we will see an end to all shelters that kill by cruel methods.
   USAP members put tremendous pressure on Spalding officials, so much so that county officials agreed to stop gassing animals. On July 1st gassing will end forever at the Spalding Animal Shelter.
   After many years of cruel killings by gas, we have shut down the Spalding chamber forever.
   Dawn Taylor Bechtold
   http://www.USAnimalProtection.org
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   Dear Reagan Bush,
   Thank you for acknowledging USAP and our work to stop the Spalding Gas Chamber.
   We have stopped many shelters from killing cruelly throughout the U.S. This particular shelter is dear to my heart.
   I have rescued from this shelter for years and formed “Spalding Rescue”, a yahoo group formed to rescue animals from this shelter. I learned of this shelter so many years ago when I read reports of puppies and kittens being drowned. This was confirmed by county officials .
   I started my work with this shelter many years ago when the kill rate was 97%. It has dropped down to about 37%.Dawn O’ Brien with The Spay and Neuter Team of Atlanta (SANTA) and myself, as well as other rescuers worked to get animals to safety and have rescued hundreds of animals that would have been gassed to death. We would like to see this shelter eventually become a humane society. We hope to work with the commissioners to see a spay/neuter ordinance implemented. We hope to see this happen immediately. We at USAP have been in discussions with the commissioner regarding the removal of the chamber from the shelter. I have requested the chamber be dismantled, destroyed and removed from the building.
   Again, thank you for your support and concern for the animals of Georgia.
   Dawn Bechtold
   U.S. Animal Protection
   Thank you, USAP, for your hard work over many years in stopping the gassing at Spalding. Dawn Bechtold is tireless in her efforts to stop animal cruelty. There are always so MANY beautiful faces at Spalding –thank you Rescuers for getting dogs out of there!! Rescuers, please keep rescuing!!
   Comment by Mare Horton 
   I hardly know what to say!!!!!!!!!!!! I find it hard to believe in 2009 we are still as barbaric as this!!!!!!!!!! Thank God for people like you that stand up for animal rights and give them a voice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
   Comment by Gail