Commercial media often picks up stories about how animals are killed.
Most of the time, they highlight poor methods across numerous species used by some to kill the animals. Some try to call it euthanasia when it may or may not be a "humane death," as defined.
A recent example is a $63,000 iguana eradication/research program underway in Florida. Pet owners released these big, greenish-grey reptiles in the Sunshine State decades ago, and now they are a non-native nuisance breeding like, well, iguanas.
Under optimal conditions, iguanas can lay dozens of eggs a year. That's fine in their native Central and South American habitats where natural predators and disease keep their numbers in check.
The current work is being conducted by wildlife biologists and students from the University of Florida. The flap has arisen over the method used to kill the reptiles - blunt force trauma. So far, the scientists have harvested more than 300 iguanas. Data are collected from the carcasses, and then they are disposed of in a sanitary landfill.
The iguanas in extreme south Florida and the Florida Keys are a feral animal overpopulation problem that researchers are seeking ways to manage.
Iguanas love dense trees and fruit. They destroy landscape vegetation, and their burrowing speeds erosion, leading to the collapse of sidewalks, foundations and canal banks, says the Florida Wildlife Commission. They can also transmit salmonella to humans who come into contact water contaminated by their feces, such as in domestic swimming pools.
Back to the blunt force trauma for a moment. Just what does that mean? It means the captured reptiles are either dispatched with a captive bolt gun to the brain (think "No Country for Old Men" where the bad guy used one to off people). Sometimes, though, the researchers swing the animals by the tail onto a hard surfaces like concrete or the edge of a metal railing. They've also hit them with hammers.
So, what does the American Veterinary Medical Association's Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals say is the best way to kill a reptile?
First off, the guidelines stress a "Good Death" is a matter of technique. The recommendation is that whatever recommended method is used on whatever species, it needs to be done quickly and done well. Anything less may be inappropriate at a minimum and illegal at its extreme.
Approved methods for reptiles with whip-sharp tails that they use to defend themselves by striking at the eyes include: appropriate drug overdoses, captive bolt gunning, gunshot, rapid freezing, and, yes, manually applied blunt force trauma.
And while some may disagree with these guidelines, the courts have sided time and again with the document as the definitive guide. Also, the AVMA updates the guidelines regularly using the best science.
Let's just face facts here a bit. Killing animals properly for population control, research, food or educational purposes is difficult and not for everyone. Some who do it as a way of partially making their living can tire of the work and burn out even when they provide the best, most humane death time and again.
While many, if not most, people may not want to be involved with such work, those who do it do not need ridicule or disdain. The funding agency and the university are conducting this research within the law and university regulation, even if others don't like it. It will hopefully find some answers.
In the meantime, yes, there remains an open season on iguanas, and many people use pellet guns to eradicate the nuisance while others still call them pets.
Charlie Powell is the public information officer for the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, which provides this column as a community service. For questions or concerns about animals you'd like to read about, email cpowell@vetmed.wsu.edu.
