CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The death of a brown-and-white, mixed breed named Bruno on the northern fringe of New Hampshire’s White Mountains has sparked an angry response from animal rights activists who want to ban owners from using a gun to “put down” old, sick or dangerous dogs.
Katie Treamer is one of the founders of Justice For Bruno, a group lobbying to make it a felony to shoot a pet to death in New Hampshire.
“In this day and age, it’s just not a responsible way to euthanize a pet.”
A humanely placed bullet is a generations-old method of dispatching pets in rural parts of the country where a veterinarian’s syringe can be expensive and hours away.
And even those angry at how Bruno died say outlawing the practice isn’t likely because it is so deeply ingrained in the nation’s agrarian traditions, where farmers and ranchers have long put down domestic animals with a gunshot.
New Hampshire is among 27 states plus the District of Columbia that have no laws governing “emergency euthanasia,” according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Justice For Bruno has contacted state officials and its change.org petition has more than 36,000 signatures in support of a new law.
