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A bill to require Utah animal shelters to use lethal injection instead of gas chambers earned the preliminary approval of the Senate on Thursday.
Senators voted 21-3 for SB56, which would mandate the use of injections statewide for the euthanasia of both domestic and wild animals.
Bill sponsor Sen. Peter Knudsen, R-Brigham City, said that injections are less expensive and less traumatic than gas chambers, which can sometimes take up to 30 minutes for an animal to lose consciousness — compared to seconds for an injection — and can expose shelter workers to harmful gasses.
He also said a number of organizations, including the Humane Society, offer grants to shelters to cover the transition costs of moving away from gas chamber to euthanasia.
"There's no question that euthanasia by injection is more humane," Knudsen said.
Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, said he did not like dictating to individual shelters how to carry out the killing of an animal.
He said the kindest way to put an animal to sleep is with a bullet, and the second-kindest method is a gas chamber.
"They don't feel a needle poking them," he said. "They don't have to be held down."
Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, said Utah is decades behind in putting an end to animal gas chambers. She said her own dog was put to sleep with an injection, and it is time for the state to standardize that practice.
"You're there with them," she said. "You have a chance to see them."
The bill would require an additional vote of the Senate before advancing to the House for consideration.
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