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RE: [RC] euthanization - heidi
I hope I never again live in an area so populated that I cannot use a
well-placed gunshot as the euthanasia method of choice, and then allow nature to take care of the carcass. Nature has been adequately disposing of bodies in wide open spaces since time immemorial, but overcrowding keeps this from being an option for many horse owners.
Chemical euthanasia has the added risk/responsibility that many of the
commonly used drugs (the barbiturate class in particular) are deadly to other animals (particularly birds) if they consume any part of the euthanized carcass. Most of the vets in my area will no longer do chemical euthanasia unless you are literally standing by with a backhoe next to a hole that is already ready for the carcass--they are not willing to accept the liability to wildlife otherwise. (And I'm not sure how wise it is to put all those chemicals in the ground where they can leach into the ground water, either.)
We have a draw about a quarter of a mile from the house that is our
"burial ground"--one clean gunshot to the head and euthanasia is instantaneous, and then within a month the bones are dispersed by coyotes and birds. There's soemthing "whole" about nature's recycling...
Heidi
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