The Georgia House of Representatives approved a bill that would ban the use of gas chambers to euthanize shelter dogs and cats, the Associated Press reported.
The bill, approved 115-46 Tuesday, would require animals to be put to sleep through lethal injection. It now goes to the state Senate.
Bill sponsor state Rep. Tom Knox said lethal injection would be cheaper and more humane than gas chambers, which use carbon monoxide to euthanize the animals.
According to the AP, State Rep. and veterinarian Gene Maddox opposed the bill saying for wild or feral animals who are not used to being handled by humans, carbon monoxide chambers are the most humane way to put an animal down.
The Animal Law Coalition says gas chambers are used in 11 Georgia city or county shelters. They are in the cities of Ashburn, Cordele, Cuthbert, Hawkinsville, Lakeland and Vienna; and Cobb, Butts, Haralson, Henry and Mitchell counties.