17 ms·

I think a live trap, a plastic bag, and a single-use helium tank from the party store would do it pretty humanely. CO2 is cheaper but it causes a panic reactio

by 13of40 9y ago

I think a live trap, a plastic bag, and a single-use helium tank from the party store would do it pretty humanely. CO2 is cheaper but it causes a panic reaction when the animal breathes it. I tried CO2 on a feral tom cat that was beating up my other cats several years ago, and it definitely didn't just go to sleep.

shoover 9y ago
It also depends on the species and flow rate. IIRC rodents handle CO2 ok but rabbits are very aversive. From https://research.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2015/10/guideline03.pdf https://research.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2015/...: The 2013 edition of the American Veterinary Medical Association Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals concludes that CO2 euthanasia is humane only when rodents are exposed to a gradually rising concentration that will cause narcosis (loss of consciousness due to the depression of cerebral activity) before the sensitive respiratory tissues are exposed to high concentrations. An optimal flow rate for CO2 euthanasia systems should displace 10%-30% of the chamber (or cage) volume per minute The full AVMA guidelines are here: https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Documents/euthanasia.pdf https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Documents/euthanasia.pdf
MengerSponge 9y ago
Use nitrogen instead of helium. It's cheap and is quite effective as an asphyxiant. Also, it's basically impossible to "waste" nitrogen.
hprotagonist 9y ago
Hm. CO2 euthanasia is de rigeur for culling experimental rodents.
- LolWolf 9y ago
  You're right, but SOP for euthanizing rodents is CO2 after anesthetizing them.
  - hprotagonist 9y ago
    https://oacu.oir.nih.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/arac-guidelines/b5-2017_rodent_euthanasia-adult_final_1-25-17.pdf https://oacu.oir.nih.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/arac-gu... It's not required.
    - LolWolf 9y ago
      Oh, interesting! I'm so used to reading it in papers that they're first anesthetized before being put in CO2 (along with many lab experiment that do it) that I thought that was SOP. Thanks!
      - hprotagonist 9y ago
        You are correct; normally the animals are hit with isoflurane first (or similar), but that's not strictly required. Large culls are more routinely done with just CO2; I know of a few 100+ animals in a day culls, for example. Unrelated to lab animals, CO2 or N2 are both used for goose culls (e.g., https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/culled-geese-are-bound-for-tables-not-dump/ https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/culled-geese-a...) in part because it's humane and in part because the meat can still be processed and donated to shelters.

by 13of40 9y ago

shoover 9y ago

It also depends on the species and flow rate. IIRC rodents handle CO2 ok but rabbits are very aversive. From https://research.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2015/10/guideline03.pdf https://research.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2015/...: The 2013 edition of the American Veterinary Medical Association Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals concludes that CO2 euthanasia is humane only when rodents are exposed to a gradually rising concentration that will cause narcosis (loss of consciousness due to the depression of cerebral activity) before the sensitive respiratory tissues are exposed to high concentrations. An optimal flow rate for CO2 euthanasia systems should displace 10%-30% of the chamber (or cage) volume per minute The full AVMA guidelines are here: https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Documents/euthanasia.pdf https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Documents/euthanasia.pdf

MengerSponge 9y ago

Use nitrogen instead of helium. It's cheap and is quite effective as an asphyxiant. Also, it's basically impossible to "waste" nitrogen.

hprotagonist 9y ago

Hm. CO2 euthanasia is de rigeur for culling experimental rodents.

LolWolf 9y ago
You're right, but SOP for euthanizing rodents is CO2 after anesthetizing them.
- hprotagonist 9y ago
  https://oacu.oir.nih.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/arac-guidelines/b5-2017_rodent_euthanasia-adult_final_1-25-17.pdf https://oacu.oir.nih.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/arac-gu... It's not required.
  - LolWolf 9y ago
    Oh, interesting! I'm so used to reading it in papers that they're first anesthetized before being put in CO2 (along with many lab experiment that do it) that I thought that was SOP. Thanks!
    - hprotagonist 9y ago
      You are correct; normally the animals are hit with isoflurane first (or similar), but that's not strictly required. Large culls are more routinely done with just CO2; I know of a few 100+ animals in a day culls, for example. Unrelated to lab animals, CO2 or N2 are both used for goose culls (e.g., https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/culled-geese-are-bound-for-tables-not-dump/ https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/culled-geese-a...) in part because it's humane and in part because the meat can still be processed and donated to shelters.