A major victory is being celebrated by The Humane Society of Utah this week as Governor Spencer Cox signed a bill on Friday, March 17, that ends the use of gas chambers in animal shelters.
HB476 would prohibit local governments from adopting or enforcing ordinances or other rules that prohibit the operation of an animal enterprise or the use of a working animal. Governments would instead only be able to enforce state and federal laws.
SB69 would ban the practice in Utah on cats and dogs, and instead require shelters to use euthanasia by injection in most cases. Utah is one of just three states where gas chambers are still used, according to the Humane Society of the United States.
Another effort to end the use of gas chamber animal euthanasia in Utah has stalled in the Legislature. Utah is one of just three states where the method is still used, according to the Humane Society.