IT'S A GAS: MSNBC just did a brief, light news story about Quentin the dog, a 30-pound basenji who narrowly escaped euthanasia and has been adopted by a St. Louis man. More than 700 people across the country expressed interest in adopting the dog after word leaked that Quentin had survived a trip last week to a local gas chamber.
Yes, you read that right, St. Louis is in the business of putting dogs to sleep by taking them to the gas chamber. Now, I'm far from a staunch animal rights activist, but I do find it a bit problematic that someone at some point made the decision that the most efficient, humane way of euthanizing dogs is by escorting them to the friggin' gas chamber.
The NBC story also says that "In Defense of Animals, a group that is also donating $5,000 to an effort to eliminate the gas chamber as St. Louis' primary way of euthanizing strays." Good for them- I don't think dogs belong anywhere near the kind of death machine that's more commonly associated with either a) the Holocaust or b) capital punishment of murderers. What's next? Dr. Kevorkian's suicide machine for dogs?