Saturday, September 19, 2009

A cheerful reading assignment

I find myself mildly depressed tonight after slogging through my 30-page Ethics reading assignment, the "AVMA Guidelines on Euthanasia."

Next week's topic for Ethics class is euthanasia, so I wasn't anticipating a bunch of happy-happy-joy-joy readings, but I also didn't enjoy reading detailed descriptions, advantages, and disadvantages of a variety of euthanasia methods including:
  • Inhalant anesthetics
  • Carbon dioxide
  • Nitrogen and argon
  • Carbon monoxide
  • Barbituric acid derivatives
  • Pentobarbital combinations
  • Chloral hydrate
  • T-61
  • Tricaine methane sulfonate
  • Potassium chloride
  • Penetrating captive bolt
  • Blow to the head
  • Gunshot
  • Cervical dislocation
  • Decapitation
  • Electrocution
  • Microwave irradiation
  • Thoracic/cardiopulmonary/cardiac compression
  • Kill trips
  • Maceration
  • Stunning
  • Pithing
  • Exsanguination

Where's the part of vet school where you get to pet kittens and get sweet puppy kisses all day long??

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