A group of people expressed their outrage to the Garland City Council on Tuesday over the use of carbon monoxide gas chambers on animals at the city's shelter.
About 40 residents gave emotional pleas for the city to relinquish what they called a "barbaric" and "inhumane" procedure, KRLD reported.
Two-thirds of the animals in Garland's shelter are killed each year, and carbon monoxide gas is used about 65 percent of the time, according to a Dallas Morning News report.
While it is legal to use carbon monoxide gas chambers, a euthanasia method used since World War II, few Texas cities still use the method. Garland is one of two in North Texas that do so.
"The vast majority of people in the community and in this profession prefer injection euthanasia," Plano Animal Services manager Jamey Cantrell told the Dallas Morning News. "I've euthanized thousands of animals. But to me, I always know that at least it was as painless as could be, and I can be nice to them for their last few minutes on Earth. They may never have even had someone pet them before."
The city of Garland maintains that carbon monoxide and lethal injection are equally humane, and that carbon monoxide euthanasia is easier and less expensive to administer.
