Take That, Georgia Department of Agriculture

Yesterday, attorneys working on behalf of PETA and two plaintiffs won a lawsuit to stop the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) from granting licenses to animal shelters that use cruel gas chambers to kill cats and dogs.

Is that a victory cheer I hear?

You might remember our post a couple of years ago about the GDA’s refusal to uphold Georgia’s 1990 Humane Euthanasia Act, which banned the use of gas chambers by most animal shelters. Well, thanks to the hard work of attorneys with the law firm Schiff Hardin LLP, a permanent injunction was entered against the GDA’s practice of approving and encouraging the illegal use of gas chambers. That’s right—the very institution that was supposed to be upholding the law was breaking it. And it’s been busted. Now, counties in Georgia with a population of 25,000 or more must provide animals with the best form of euthanasia available: intravenous injections of sodium pentobarbital.

We are still waiting with fingers crossed to see if Georgia’s bill to ban all gas chambers permanently has made its way to the Senate. But for now, we are throwing a little victory celebration for all the shelter animals who will be spared a cruel death thanks to this courtroom victory.

Written by Shawna Flavell