SMITHFIELD -- The animal-rights group Defenders of Animals on Friday accused Smithfield of having let itself become a "death camp" by allowing Providence animal control officers to use the Smithfield shelter's gas chamber to destroy unwanted cats and dogs.
Town Manager Russell R. Marcoux said the practice of putting animals from Providence to death with carbon monoxide began only in recent weeks, and said he has ordered a temporary halt while examining alternatives. He said the town had been charging a $10 fee for each animal from Providence.
Marcoux objected to the term "death camp," contained in a news release issued by Defenders of Animals.
"The whole article doesn't sit well," he said. "Nobody even had the courtesy to inquire as to whether any of this information was factual."
He criticized a Defenders of Animals contention that the organization had obtained a court order against Smithfield, saying the court order had been issued against the City of Providence.
Dennis Tabella, director of Defenders of Animals, conceded that the order had been directed against Providence, not Smithfield.
Marcoux said he had ordered that the use of the gas chamber be discontinued not only for animals from Providence, but for any strays. "We are not going to become a sanctuary for doing it for other communities," he said.
The town manager said he asked animal control officers as much as two years ago to check on alternative methods, and had been told that veterinarians charge $50 to $60 for administering lethal injections. He said he will now attempt to find a way of reducing that cost.
As for the issue of accepting animals from Providence, Marcoux said he only became aware of it when he read a story in Thursday's Providence Journal. The story reported that Defenders of Animals on Wednesday obtained a temporary restraining order from Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Fortunato Jr. barring Providence officials from transporting animals to Smithfield.
Lawyers for Providence said that the City Council passed an ordinance in October requiring lethal injection. At some point Providence animal officers began to use the Smithfield gas chamber.
Tabella charged Friday that the Providence officers did this to "circumvent" the Providence ordinance. "Apparently, the Smithfield municipal shelter is comfortable with being a death camp for dogs and cats," he said.
Assistant City Solicitor Raymond Dettore Jr. said on Wednesday that the city agreed to the temporary restraining order to give officials a chance to figure out what had transpired. A court hearing is scheduled for July 10.
Tabella said his organization objects to use of the gas chamber for a number of reasons, one being that a veterinarian is not present to certify that an animal is dead.
He said there had been "numerous cases" in which cats and dogs had been gassed and then placed in freezers or incinerators before they were dead.
When asked for examples of such instances in Providence or Smithfield, Tabella said there have been none.
"It's just a common thing that happens with gas chambers," he said.
Marcoux and Tabella clashed when it came to the numbers of animals involved -- Marcoux said Tabella wouldn't give him the figures in a telephone conversation on Friday -- and to the reasons for their extermination.
Marcoux said he checked with Smithfield animal control warden Thomas Taylor, whose records showed that the town had accepted 9 dogs and 22 cats from Providence since June 10.
"Of the nine dogs, one was hit by a car and two had a disease that went through the animal shelter in Providence," the town manager said. "The remaining were aggravated animals and pit bulls that were untrained. Of the 22 cats all were wild or rabid."
Tabella said his records show that seven cats were shipped to Providence on June 10, three dogs and one cat on June 14, and an unknown number of animals on June 17.
All were "perfectly normal dogs and cats," he said. "These were not injured animals that went to Smithfield."
When asked about Marcoux's description of the condition of the animals brought to the Smithfield animal shelter, Tabella said, "I don't know how he would know that."
Marcoux, who said he called Tabella Friday after Defenders of Animals issued its news release, responded, "He's basically saying our people are lying. I have no clue who this guy is." But, he said, he would "put the opinion of both our dog officers against Defenders of Animals anytime."
He said the Smithfield officers were "much more forthright" about answering his questions than Tabella was.
"Tabella wouldn't give me any of that information," Marcoux said, referring to the figures on animals shipped to Smithfield. "I told him that was a joke, that if I did that I would be out on my ear in a matter of a week."
Tabella said his organization endorses lethal injection "when absolutely necessary. We are in favor of a no-kill shelter, but we realize some cities and towns can't afford that," he said.
Marcoux said that figures show 93 percent of all animals brought to the Smithfield shelter are adopted.
