POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — The Poplar Bluff City Council voted Monday to begin shutting down and dismantling Missouri's last known gas chamber used to kill shelter animals, according to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).
Gas chamber euthanasia involves placing animals into metal boxes before a fatal gas is pumped in. Deaths can take as long as 20 minutes, while the stressed animal struggles, according to the society.
The city council voted to authorize Mayor Shane Cornman to enter into a grant agreement with HSUS. The society said the $15,000 grant will help support the closure of the machine while funding training and other resources to help shelter staff transition to more humane euthanasia models.
“We applaud the Poplar Bluff City Council’s decision to end this cruel and archaic method of euthanasia for our shelter animals and admire their leadership in working together to transition to a model that doesn’t subject animals to undue suffering. Missouri was one of two remaining states using chambers to euthanize domestic animals and tonight, we changed that," said HSUS Missouri State Director Cody Atkinson.
HSUS has a history of advocating for the removal of gas chambers across the state and country, The organization previously helped the City of West Plains to remove its gas chamber in 2020 with a $3,000 grant.
HSUS also worked with Missouri State Representative Adam Schwadron in 2023 to try and ban the practice statewide. Schwadron's bill would have made euthanasia through the means of "carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide gas, a decompression chamber, electrocution, gunshot, blunt force trauma, or injection of a neuromuscular blocking agent" a criminal offense. The bill passed a House committee, but did not receive a vote on the House floor.
