San Antonio stops euthanizing pets with gas, turns to needle

One form of inflicting death is apparently more humane than another:

San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger said Monday that the city has officially completed its overhaul of its animal care services facility. Dogs and cats will no longer be euthanized by gas by city workers.

Unwanted animals picked up and brought to the animal care services facility will now euthanize pets by injection, a move that Hardberger says makes San Antonio a more humane city.

San Antonio's animal-control efforts came under fire last year after local residents began protesting the city's use of gas euthanasia, a practice which many contended was inhumane.

Abandoned pythons and boa constrictors will still have their heads chopped off with a post-hole digger, however.

In a related story, Jourdanton decides to stop drowning unwanted dogs in the sewer.