Killing mice,CO2 and suffocation; what do you think?

Allow me to disagree with the NYU guidelines in favor of the AVMA guidelines, which in 2000 basically said that the only problem with euthanasia by exposure to a high concentration of CO2 was that it could cause deep unconsciousness rather than death (so apparently-dead animals have to be kept in the chamber for several minutes until they are actually dead, or another method of killing used after they're unconscious), and that it does cause distress in some species (animals that are capable of surviving without oxygen for a long time).

From personal experience, in a very well-charged chamber full of CO2, mice will be unconscious before I have even set them on the floor of the chamber, and rats have just enough time to stand before slumping forward, unconscious. I've never seen any struggle, attempt escape, or fear-defecate, so short of postmortem serum cortisol level testing, I can't get any more evidence to suggest that it's a very humane method for in-home use. Also, for what it's worth, I would euthanize my pet rodents this way if my access to vet care were restricted for some reason; this isn't just something I would do to feeder rodents.

I think I posted this in another thread, just can't remember where. A colleague of mine got the brilliant idea while we were running hot water on dry ice in the sink to take a good whiff of it. He stuck his head in the vapor and took one decent breath and nearly went down. He said he just saw stars and black, no pain, no sensation at all, really, just felt like he was going to pass out.

As for my personal observations of mice in CO2 vapor from dry ice, they are unconscious almost immediately. You do have to wait for enough CO2 to build up in the system to cause respiratory arrest leading to death by hypoxia once they stop breathing. <i>(That's the point where you see the "agonal" gasping breathing which is a reflex of the diaphragm in response to low oxygen levels. The mice aren't conscious at that point. Agonal gasping is a life-saving mechanism that the body uses to sustaining itself in the case of some event causing temporary respiratory arrest. It tries to keep some oxygen coming in while waiting for the respiratory center to kick back in.)</i> I leave them in the chamber for a couple minutes after they stop breathing to ensure they don't recover, then place them immediately in the freezer.

Like Rhinecat, I follow the AVMA guidelines, and I wouldn't hesitate to put down a pet rodent the same way.

Could someone post a link to the AVMA guidelines?

http://www.avma.org/resources/euthanasia.pdf

Here's the 2000 report by the AVMA on euthanasia.

Whoa, that was quick, thanx.

OK I have a question. Would there be a problem if the feeders were put in a container then placed in a deep freezer instead of using the CO2 first? because when things die by freezing to death there is no pain and the victim will fall asleep long before death occurs right? Or is this just unethical to do?

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/sho...highlight=mice

Please read above link. Thank you.