Medina County commissioners sell gas chamber to SPCA for destruction

MEDINA, Ohio -The Medina County commissioners voted this morning to sell the county animal shelter's gas chamber to the Medina County SPCA for $1.

The SPCA will 'remove the chamber from the shelter at 6334 Deerview Lane, disassemble the chamber and have it hauled away for scrap metal,' SPCA director Stephanie Moore wrote in a memo presented to the commissioners. 'The SPCA will issue a check to the county for the amount of the scrap metal.'

The SPCA will receive an anonymous donation of $10,000 to be used for the expansion and enhancement of the county cat program based on this agreement, the memo states.

Moore said the public will be invited to a demolition party to help destroy the chamber.

The offer of $10,000 came in response to the commissioners' unanimous decision at last week's meeting to sell the gas chamber on an Internet auction, a move that met with much public criticism. That resolution will have to be amended or rescinded in order for the commissioners to accept the terms of the donation.

Teresa Landon, the director of the Ohio Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said she was 'horrified that the Medina County commissioners would even consider' selling the county animal shelter's gas chamber at auction.

'The death box must be destroyed, cut up and sold as scrap metal,' she said.

Moore, director of the Medina County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, last week called the chamber a 'thing of the past' that should be destroyed.

The anonymous donor called Moore last Wednesday and said the donation would have to be given to the Medina SPCA for the care of cats. The local non-profit began taking in more cats last month, after the commissioners voted to stop accepting cats at the county shelter that killed them in the gas chamber.

Thousands of dogs and cats, including 289 cats last year, were killed in the 20-year-old chamber before public outcry led the commissioners to stop accepting cats at the shelter built for dogs. The county stopped killing dogs in the chamber several years ago due to public opposition.

The commissioners paid $13,000 to the SPCA to take in owner-surrendered and friendly stray cats. The SPCA won't accept feral cats, as they are not adoptable.

The $13,000 came out of the county's profit on the sale of dog licenses. The dog kennel fund surplus stands at more than $300,000.

The county shelter has also been criticized for using improper drug doses to kill dogs by lethal injection. In response, county officials said the shelter workers will be retrained.

Maybe we want to live vicariously, or maybe we're in the mood for a pity party. Whatever. We want to see how you swapped your snow boots for swimsuits & escaped the cold! ... Show off your warm photos now.'

We look forward to sharing with you some of the great content found on cleveland.com. To view and subscribe to any of our other newsletters, please click here.

Latest Medina HS News | Scores & Schedules | Medina Highland HS News