Beware of Dry Ice method for Euthanaisia

[spoggy]

Quote:
They don't. The first lungfull of CO2, they pass out, death is almost instantly after. Certain biological processes continue for a few minutes, but there is no awareness of this on the part of the animal. I was on a Fire/Rescue team in a manufacturing facility with a CO2 fire suppression system in one area of the plant. If it went off and someone happened to be in the room, they would die if they couldn't immediately hold their breath. Unfortunately, a persons' first reaction in an emergency is to inhale in order to oxygenate the body for the "fight or flight" response, so survival in this situation was not a guarantee. Thankfully, I never had to pull anyone out, alive or otherwise.

Steve

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Quote:
They don't. The first lungfull of CO2, they pass out, death is almost instantly after. Certain biological processes continue for a few minutes, but there is no awareness of this on the part of the animal. I was on a Fire/Rescue team in a manufacturing facility with a CO2 fire suppression system in one area of the plant. If it went off and someone happened to be in the room, they would die if they couldn't immediately hold their breath. Unfortunately, a persons' first reaction in an emergency is to inhale in order to oxygenate the body for the "fight or flight" response, so survival in this situation was not a guarantee. Thankfully, I never had to pull anyone out, alive or otherwise.

Steve

This is good! Thanks.

 

[spoggy]

Also remember that a bucket is not a natural place for a chicken to be, there may be some struggling at first to escape but that is not due to them fighting the gas. As in the axe method, there can be some muscular contractions that mimic life, but it is the body shutting down. Euthanasia is far from perfect, all methods have some unplesantness associated with them. My top two choices will always be gas or axe, neither has preferance over the other for me, it's just what seems best for any given animal.

Steve

 

[columbiacritter]

Quote:
I agree completely. Normally my birds get the axe, but this one was a dear pet to someone who doesn't axe things. My goal was to give the bird an easy passage and give the owner peace of mind. Saldy I acheived neither.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

bump for Tina

 

[Lady of McCamley]

We built a euthanasia chamber for my husbands beloved bantam roo he couldn't handle letting me off him in the normal way. Basically a 5 gallon bucket with a plywood platform inside to keep the roo above the ice. Put the ice in, set the platform in place, pour in warm water, immediate CO2 fog forms, set rooster on the platform and put the lid on the bucket. It should have quickly and quietly euthanized him, but apparently we used WAY WAY TOOOOO much dry ice.


We blew the lid off the bucket. Quite an impressive BBBBOOOOOOMMMM!!!

It would have been funny if the roos end had not been involved. My husband was upset. We let a lot of the reaction go then put the pid back on but not air tight then left it for a good 1/2 hour. The roo passed without apparent suffering after the explosion.

If we use that method again I will use 1/2 lb of ice not 3 lbs.

Thank you for posting this, and thank you BYC for keeping the thread up.

I had to euthanize one of my sick hens, and researching methods led me to this thread. I had heard of the dry ice method, but the OP gave me exact details needed. I really appreciated the helpful comments from Spoggy (Steve) that encouraged me the animal would not suffer. (My hubby is a systems tech and he had to get out of a building that had a fire emergency ahead of the CO2 deployment....so I know what Steve is saying is true.)

I took a simple 5 gal bucket with good lid (Home Depot orange bucket), had on hand a styrofoam circular insert (came with my food processor) that made a perfect platform after a little whittling with the knife. I purchased 2 lbs of dry ice and placed half in the bottom added the styrofoam, poured warm water, placed hen inside, placed lid on top with just a little give at one side of the rim for venting.

I heard one big leap/gasp...then the usual fluttering of muscular reflexes, then complete quiet. The whole thing took less than 15 seconds. I left her in the bucket for 15 minutes just in case I was wrong. It was the quietest, least stressful "execution" I have witnessed for a hen....I've tried the cone and slit method (invert in cone, sharp knife to throat) where they bleed out....but that takes about a minute or more. I've witnessed the ax to the head, and they fultter and react after the incident for 30 seconds or so. The dry ice was as instantaneous as the axe with even less after flutter and NO blood (big advantage for those of us with rats in the neighborhood).

Thank you again for sharing your experience...and embarrassment....it helped me do it right the first time to end a life as kindly as possible.
Lady of McCamley

 

[rambosara]

How long do they gasp for air before dying? Sorry I'm for "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS"

OMG! the way you asked this! I am in tears laughing , I know its not funny, but how long do they gasp for air!

 

[MelissaTXRn]

Good heavens!!!! Sorry for your loss, but I admit that I LOL at the boom.

 

[porterwade]

I have used dry ice to euthanize my pet rats in emergency situations, or wild rats I caught in humane traps. Did not use water, just the dry ice placed one end of an air tight plastic bin, making sure there was no chance of contact with the ice. I just tear a hole in the wrapping to release the gas, then set a small humane trap in the container and weight the lid. . It was very quick.

 

[luckysaysgo]

So just to be sure..this is not something I want to mess up..do I or do I not need to add water to the dry ice?