Sale of euthanized pets troubles DuPage official

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...ck=2&cset=true
(This makes me sick :mad: )

Sale of euthanized pets troubles DuPage official
Shelter sells remains for class dissections

Dog and cat owners who drop their pets off to be euthanized at the DuPage Animal Care and Control Center should be told the animal's body could be sold for classroom dissection, a key DuPage County Board member said Tuesday, adding that he learned only last week that the county has been selling carcasses since 1987.

The issue was raised by animal-rights activists who say the county is euthanizing too many animals. They say a tip led them to take a photo of a van picking up a "cartload of dead cats" from the center in Wheaton. The van had markings from a Wisconsin biological-supply company that sells animal cadavers for use in science classes.

Pat O'Shea, chairman of the County Board's Judicial and Public Safety Committee, which oversees the Animal Control Department, said the department's budget reports did not explain the practice.

O'Shea said that although he has no problem with the concept, pet owners should be alerted--they are not now--if their pets' bodies are not going to be cremated or buried. Then they could decide whether they want to donate the bodies to science.

"We're not required by law to disclose the disposition of an animal once it's euthanized," said county spokeswoman Diana Paluch.

But O'Shea said the policy should be examined.

"There's an emotional attachment, and that's different from strays," he said.

County pet owners would be aghast to find out "that their cat was soaked up by formaldehyde and chopped up by 14-year-olds," said Cherie Travis, head of a Downers Grove non-profit animal shelter and a frequent critic of the county animal control center. "I think it's a breach of the public trust. We're talking about people's cats and dogs."

"A government place like that, out of respect for the animal and the owner, they really ought to make that known," said Darlene Larson, the Midwest region shelter outreach manager for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

A spokesman for the Illinois Department of Agriculture, which regulates animal-control centers, called the practice of selling carcasses "certainly unusual," but department attorneys had not found any law prohibiting such sales. The state has licensed the company, NASCO, to render dead animals, said Agriculture Department spokesman Jeff Squibb.

"Our animal-welfare bureau is not aware of any other county doing it," Squibb said.

Animal-rights activists have criticized animal control in recent months for euthanizing too many cats and dogs--the number of cats killed in the facility jumped 40 percent last year--and now question whether selling the bodies has become a revenue source and a disincentive to place the animals with shelters where they can be adopted.

"I have grave concerns over the conflict of interest that they actually stand to benefit financially [from euthanizing animals]," Travis said.

But Paluch says the county, which has sold animal bodies to NASCO since 1987, averages about $2,000 a year from the sales in a department budget of about $800,000. In the first three months of 2005, the county has sold 249 cat bodies and 16 dog bodies to NASCO, generating $880, she said.

"It's clearly not a revenue generator by any stretch of the imagination," she said.

Travis and Susan Norris of Champaign also have filed complaints with the attorney general, the state's attorney's office and the state Department of Agriculture because they say the county was not forthcoming with information about the cadaver sales in repeated Freedom of Information Act requests about county euthanasia policies.

Sarah Klaper, an attorney with Citizen Advocacy Center, an Elmhurst-based government watchdog, said the county was trying to circumvent the law by omitting controversial documents.

"The county is perpetuating a culture that closes the door of access in the face of the residents of DuPage County," she said.

But Paluch says the county has had to deal with 23 Freedom of Information Act requests from Norris and sometimes must ask for a clarification of what she is seeking.

"I think we make every effort to comply, and there is certainly not any intention to provide any misinformation," she said.

He's right. It should be an owners choice about what happens to the pet after it's put to sleep.

It should be their choice. A lot of shelters do this and people don't even know.

If people don't want something like this to happen, they shouldn't be dumping their "beloved pets" in a shelter where they have to sign over custody of the animal giving the shelter the right to euthanize. Why should the former owners care what happens to the dead bodies when they didn't want the live ones anymore? At least the bodies are being put to use instead of being dumped into a landfill.

I guess I need to understand which part makes you sick, Jan. Is it the practice of allowing those euthanized animals to go to "science" or that fact that they have been requested to be euthanized to start with? I have to agree with PitChick in the scenario she describes. If one has left their pet at a animal shelter, who are they to dictate what happens to the body? I am a Christian, and in my belief, the "soul" leaves the body at death, and what is left is of no concequence. I believe this for animals and humans.

I was an avid Biology student in high school, taking every possible class related to Biology or Anatomy. We dissected fetal pigs, a cat, frogs, and many more animals. The cat thing was probably the most worrisome for me.......I had a cat and hated that one had died that we were dissecting. But I learned a lot! And I know that the cat came as a result of euthanization at some shelter. As much as I am against and hate "kill" shelters, I know that even those shelters offer more chances for some animals than they could ever get, elsewhere. At least their bodies are helping students learn a bit more about animal/human anatomy. All I can say from my experience is that animals were treated with respect (and this was a long time ago :o , as I graduated from high school 25 years ago, this year). We learned, and we learned a lot. And it was in the advanced classes that we were doing these particular dissections.

Respectfully,
Logan

I'm inclined to agree with PitChick. People get rid of their pets here all the time and you should see some of the excuses they give. The previous owners are owed nothing. To me, they don't even deserve to have animals in the first place.

I think the owners should know, but Pitchick does have a point. I have no problem with animals being used in biology classes and - as a matter of fact - I have papers filled out so that if something happens to me, my body is donated to science - if there is anything left after they remove any good organs that can be donated. I'm like Logan in that I feel when the person dies, the soul is gone and it's only an empty shell, so once I'm dead, if my shell can go to benefit others, then do it!

However, the owners should know. Some could care less, but I really wonder if people even think about what happens to their pet once it's euthanized? I think most people are pretty broken up about the pet dieing and all, but then they just leave and go home and don't think twice about what happens to the body. I would never just leave one of my pets' bodies at the vet after being euthanized. Like I did with Tubby, they will all be cremated and the ashes will be returned to me.

My disclaimer: The only pet I've ever had to euthanize has been Tubby and I knew I wanted him cremated and returned to me so there was no question. I don't know how a vet handles it otherwise. Do they just say "Would you like us to dispose of the body?" I don't know, but again, the owners should know. It would at least make them think about the final disposition of their beloved pet.

I believe that the pet owners should be aware of what happens to their pet's bodies once they are euthanized.

As far as stupid, irresponsible pet owners who dump their pets off at a shelter for whatever reason, no, they do not deserve to know. If they cared, they wouldn't be dumping them there to begin with.

Not to mention the bodies that are sold to cat and dog food companies...

I think the people that bring their old, dying animal to be put down should know what can happen to it. For the people that bring them there to be PTS for some stupid reason shouldn't know. Though they deserve to find out after it happens...

I'm not sure why that place is allowed to put down random animals anyways. Over here it is illegal to let anyone but a vet put your animal down -- and the vet has to find ample reason. If the animal is not suffering, then it is illegal for the vet to put it down.

Pitchick did bring up some good points. Dumping euthanised pets into landfills opens up a whole different can of worms, as preditors (could be anything from birds to big cats, and bears etc) will scavenge for the bodies, and the result is more dead animals from the euthansia drugs in the dead pets body. I'd rather know the animal was being used scientifically while dead, than sold off alive and experimented on which happens too. :mad: :(

I'm disgusted that their still letting 14 year olds do classes like that. Those children aren't nearly old enough to have that crap shoved in their faces. You want to blame teenage crimes on video games and movies, yeah, well, just look whats going on in schools.