Aww Nin, I symathize with your compassion for the “littlest” guys…
I’m thinking the quickest most convenient option would be the blow to the head (maybe snuggled and then tucked into a cloth or piece of towel to make it easier for both!), rather than the zip loc bag/asphyxiation route, but both are better than suffering a long while -
Bless you for thinking of the littlest ones -
Sorry don’t know anything about getting dry ice 
This is a timely discussion.
I, for one, find it absolutely appalling that people would choose to end their pet’s life like this, particularly when there are no shortage of animal shelters or vets that would be willing to carry out a free “mercy” euthanasia. I know I’ve done it more than once since moving here in June. These men should be charged with cruelty. There is no reason that poor little dog had to suffocate to death. I don’t think anyone here would disagree, either. I’m just saying that this is seen as an inhumane, cruel act.
I understand that not everyone lives within a reasonable distance of a vet; however, I think if that is the case, you should carry a firearm for these kinds of situations. Pre-medicating a pet with ace is not always a reliable means of sedation depending on the animal and its sickness, and ace does not have a lot of pain-killing effects beyond that of sedation. I suppose if you had a very large amount you could try to overdose the pet if there truly was no option.
What a sad thread.
A lot of grocery stores carry it. It’s generally in a small locked freezer at the front of the store since you can’t purchase it (here) unless you’re 18 or older.
It’s not something you can keep on hand as it disintegrates within a few days.
They say this is a listing of sources for dry ice:
For rats and other animals of similar size, I was taught how to dislocate their necks. :eek: Basically, you put something stong, like the handle of a screwdriver horizonally behind the ears. Then yank quickly and strongly on the tail or body. Done correctly, it is very fast.
Don’t do it – my boss back when I worked on a wildlife refuge killed a skunk this way. Poor thing thrashed around in the bag before it finally died. I’d rather he just have shot it (well, I’d really rather he not killed it at all, but not my decision to make, sigh).
What a sad topic, but an important one. Cosmonster, I am sorry for the loss of your cat.
I have often wondered if there was something I could keep on hand to end suffering should things go wrong at the wrong time.
Last spring I had cause to regret not researching this further when my sweet old lady dog had a massive stroke and began seizing uncontrollably. My regular vet is an hour away, the Evet is around 30 min with traffic, and while I had good relationships with some clinics closer by I had a terrible time raising anyone that morning. I finally got ahold of a clinic up the street who I had been to before, but the girl who answered the phone was extremely new (as in first day- I don’t fault this kid at all, it was just a horrible moment to have her pick up the phone!) and was trying very hard to follow the procedures laid out to her in training. By the time I got to talk to someone who knew me and explain that my dog did not need to be SEEN, she just needed to be put down ASAP (to which they responded YES, COME NOW!) it was too late and my poor girl had died in my lap.
With our dane in the house, I fret that something will happen when I am home alone and I won’t be able to get him into a car by myself. I have a bloat kit and know how to use it and friends and neighbors who would be here in a second if I needed them, but the added comfort of having a means to end his suffering should the need arise would be tremendous.
So- do I get a gun? Ask my vet for an emergency off-label vial of a strong sedative? I don’t know, but thank you for posting this thread and reminding me to think about it again.
[QUOTE=Pancakes;5016383]
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/roommates-face-animal-cruelty-charges-for-suffocating-ailing-pet/1112900
This is a timely discussion.
I, for one, find it absolutely appalling that people would choose to end their pet’s life like this, particularly when there are no shortage of animal shelters or vets that would be willing to carry out a free “mercy” euthanasia. I know I’ve done it more than once since moving here in June. These men should be charged with cruelty. There is no reason that poor little dog had to suffocate to death. I don’t think anyone here would disagree, either. I’m just saying that this is seen as an inhumane, cruel act.
I understand that not everyone lives within a reasonable distance of a vet; however, I think if that is the case, you should carry a firearm for these kinds of situations. Pre-medicating a pet with ace is not always a reliable means of sedation depending on the animal and its sickness, and ace does not have a lot of pain-killing effects beyond that of sedation. I suppose if you had a very large amount you could try to overdose the pet if there truly was no option.
What a sad thread.[/QUOTE]
OMG that story is terrible! I hope those men are punished to the fullest extent of the law! It would havfe beeen better to just let the dog die naturally then to suffocate it with a ziplock bag for 30 minutes! 
that makes me so sad and so angry at the same time! People can be so ridiculous sometimes!
Rubyfree…can I ask you to PM me the details of your bloat kit? As a Dobe owner I live in such fear and would love to have one around.
I actually know someone who has used the box attached to the vehicle exhaust to put cats down. I do not know the details but after the skunk story I sure would hope it was a last and desperate resort.
[QUOTE=Nin;5016192]
Has anybody ever heard of using the exhaust pipe of the car? I’ve read about putting the little pet in a ziplock bag, securing it to the exhaust pipe, and letting it run a little while.
Where can I get dry ice?[/QUOTE]
I just went to King Soopers or a similar grocery store and purchased a 1/4lb chunk. As someone else mentioned, it’s not really something you can keep on hand, but I’ve been fortunate to live a only a couple blocks away from a store, so it’s was never a time issue for me.
I don’t know if it would be recommended to euth a cat or similarly sized animal with this method, but someone once found a (small-medium size) cat that had been hit by a car on campus and brought him over to us. Poor guy was completely mangled so we carefully put him into the aquarium and helped ease his way out. I have to think that just going to sleep from a CO2 overdose was preferable than dying on his own from those injuries.
I would never use car exhaust to euth, since the exhaust has other unpleasant chemicals in it and can sting to breathe.
Slightly off topic:
Thanks to the other posters who had supportive things to say about rats as pets and good vet stories! I am still surprised by how many people think that just because a pet’s purchase price wasn’t high it doesn’t deserve a dignified, humane end to it’s life.
—“I am still surprised by how many people think that just because a pet’s purchase price wasn’t high it doesn’t deserve a dignified, humane end to it’s life.”—
I don’t know about “dignified”, that is up for definition and I bet a rat’s definition of dignified would not quite match ours.
I do agree that all alive should have a decent life, according to what is right for it’s species and a humane end to it.:yes:
Nature doesn’t provide for it at all, but when we are around, we do try best we can to see to it.
Too bad that we don’t quite extend that humaneness to human lives and some end of life situations, for what I have seen.
Too bad that we don’t quite extend that humaneness to human lives and some end of life situations
Many of us make that a strenuously defended priority, but it is, as you can imagine, quite the complicated issue. :sigh:
It is a complicated issue.
I have seen some people pass on gently and some in a rather inhumane way, for what they had to suffer, even with palliative care, with them asking for a merciful end, please.
One had lung cancer that metastasized to the brain and the last three months were terrible.
The other had colon cancer, went to the liver and on to the bone and for three weeks it was a terrible nightmare and in the hospital.
Now, that was many years ago and I am sure we have come a long way, but jeez, it does scare me what we do to people in the name of being sure all the t’s are crossed and i’s dotted and afraid to to take charge in such situations.:no:
I am glad that we can make those decisions for the animals under our care, with our veterinarians concurring, of course.
This ~
Agree ~
I’m sorry for the loss of your cat. And bless you for posting the question as it may help others in the future that are faced with a similar situation. I know it gave me some food for thought.
Oh like I’d click on that link. Wierd spam. Flagged.
[quote=“an has published acceptable/conditionally acceptable/unacceptable methods of euthanasia here:
http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/euthanasia.pdf
[/quote]
I got this when I clicked that link
[h=1]404: File Not Found[/h] [IMG]https://www.avma.org/PublishingImages/404-pug.png)
I looked and looked, but I can’t find the page you requested. Maybe I buried it in the backyard with that ball I can’t find.
Here are links to some of the most popular pages on our site. If these aren’t what you want, you can use the search box or the Quick Links section on our home page orsearch our Knowledge Base.
This thread is 9 years old revived by wierd creepy spam.
I wonder why spammers seem to dig up old threads when they could just post on new/current ones.
To keep things on topic, I’ve used extremely sharp tree branch lopers to dispatch large Muscovy ducks. It works very well. I’d imagine that it would work on other small animals in an emergency. Just make sure they are extremely sharp.
Probably because the thread is nearly a decade old.
Here’s a working link for the euthanasia guidelines, though.
But I liked the pug in it and his message was cute. Did not notice it was an old original post, info still pertinent. Thanks
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