Should Tasers Be Used To Control Animals?

Modern technology is once again pushing the limits on what humans are allowed to call – the humane treatment of animals. This time it is the use of Tasers on large animals such as moose and bear. It is becoming a popular method for managing wildlife that come into contact with people.

In Anchorage, Alaska where large wild animals have chance meetings with people on a fairly regular basis law enforcement officers started using Tasers five years ago. The policy has reduced the number of wild animals killed by police and has become the preferred technique.

The idea surfaced after a Fish and Game wildlife technician named Larry Lewis came to aid an Alaska State Trooper over an angry moose. The cow and her two calves had become trapped in a basement that was being built for a house. The officers tried to get the moose to leave the area so they could retrieve the calves. They used the conventional tools of noisemakers and rubber bullets, but nothing would convince her to leave her calves.

Lewis then decided to lower a ramp into the basement foundation so the calves could walk out. But as he got closer, the mother moose charged and chased after him. Both Lewis and the State Trooper were armed, but instead of shooting the moose the trooper used his Taser. It hit the moose in the shoulder and she fell to the ground. A couple of minutes later the moose stood up and ran into the woods, allowing Lewis to rescue the calves.

Training Other States

Now five years later, Lewis is training wildlife management agencies in other states how to incorporate the use of Tasers into their animal control policies. Alaska’s strategy is to use them for human-wildlife conflicts and that is what is taught to other agencies, as well.

When Lewis presented the idea of using Tasers at a wildlife conference, none of the other professionals rejected the idea.

“I didn’t get one negative comment,” Lewis said in an interview with the Anchorage Daily News. “Mainly what I heard was that if this saves an animal’s life, it’s a useful tool.”

Over the last five years Lewis worked to refine the type of Taser used by wildlife officials. He worked with a research biologist and the manufacturer of the Taser to design a non-lethal weapon for use on animals.

Lewis admits that being shot with a Taser hurts. It delivers a “high voltage but low amperage jolt similar to an electric fence,” said Lewis.

But wildlife managers find it appealing because it does not affect the central nervous system. Animals can still breathe and think and they completely recover in 30 minutes. It takes moose 24-48 hours to recover after being shot with a tranquillizer gun.

Most animals respond to the stun of a Taser by fleeing from the situation. And that is the exact response wildlife staffers usually need to resolve a life-threatening problem.

And if you are wondering if Lewis has ever felt the pain of a Taser, the answer is yes. “I’ve been Tasered, and I didn’t enjoy it. But there’s no pain memory, and recovery is quick.”

Criticism for using the weapon is that it’s cruel and painful to the animals. But Lewis and his team think it can be a useful tool to save animals. Interest in this new technology is gaining support from the professionals who must handle potentially deadly animal-human occurrences. There has even been interest from wildlife managers in Kenya, where elephants sometimes tear down fences and the policy is to shoot them with guns.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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6:06PM PDT on Aug 7, 2010

Definitly tazers should not be used.

What goes around comes around.

Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. Matthew 5:7

This INCLUDES the way we treat animals.

send a green star

Ann E.

7:38PM PDT on Jul 31, 2010

If I were given a choice between being tazered or being shot, I would very rapidly opt for the former.

Josie E.

9:58AM PDT on Jul 15, 2010

I don't like it but as others have said, I much prefer it to the alternative. Sometimes you have to choose the lesser of two evils.

Charity B.

6:34PM PDT on Jun 30, 2010

S.S.Ibarra. I agree with you. Did you know that ANY citizen can buy these tasers? I was astonished when I first heard they would be sold to anyone. Go to the mall and look at the people there. Any one of those people, even the teens, could have a taser, an AK-47, PLUS all the prescription pills they want could be in their system. After tasers were publicly sold, I stopped going out. I rarely leave my house, I never eat out, never go to movie theatres or large shopping malls. When I need something, I get everything needed for a week or two in one shopping trip. Straight to the store, then straight home. I trust NO ONE and as long as America is ruled by the NRA, I will be staying inside. I know that is not a guarantee of safety. A beautiful 7-year old girl was killed in her own bed while sleeping because of a gang war outside that shot up her house in the crossfire. Young punks who cannot keep their pants up are out shooting in a residential neighborhood. Where do they get the money for bullets? Oh yeah, they just taser someone at the mall and take their wallet.

Mervi R.

10:39AM PDT on Jun 30, 2010

Don´t think tasing should be used.

Susan Suni I.

7:05PM PDT on Jun 21, 2010

NO!!!!!!!!! NO TASERS!!!!!!!! TASERS SHOUD NOT BE USED ON HUMANS OR ANIMALS OF ANY SIZE!!!!!! TASERS CAN, AND OFTEN DO INTERFERE WITH THE ELECTRICAL CURRENTS AND CHARGES THAT THE HEART CREATS FOR ITSELF TO KEEP BEATING!!!!!!! AND IT DOESN'T MATTER IF THE HEART IS HUMAN OR DOG, OR MOOSE, OR BEAR, OR CAT, OR ELEPHANT!!!!!
IT MESSES UP AND CAN FREQUENTLY STOP A HEART FROM BEATING!!!!!!!! I ALREADY HAVE AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM WITH MY HEART!!!!!!! IF THEY MADE A MISTAKE AND STARTED GOING AFTER ME DUE TO MISTAKEN IDENTITY - - - - THEY WOULD KILL ME THE MINUTE THEY TOUCHED ME WITH THEIR DEACLY LITTLE GADGET!!!!!!! IT IS, AND ALWAYS WAS, A VERY BAD AND DEADLY IDEA TO USE THOSE THINGS ON ANYONE OR ANYTHING!!!!! OFFICERS AREADY HAVE A SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH COPITIS AS IT IS, AND THOSE DAMNED THINGS HVE JUST ADDED TO THAT!!!!!! DON'T TELL ME I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, BECAUSE I HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARE POLICE OFFICERS, AND, YESSSS! THERE IS SUCH A THING AS COPITIS - - - THEY LOSE THEIR HEADS UP THEIR TOOSHES, 98% OF THEM, AND THEN THEY REALLY ARE NOT FIT TO BE AROUND OR LIVE WITH!!!!!!! THEY CAN NO LONGER BE TRUSTED BY ANYONE - - - THEY HAVE BECOME DANGEROUS!!!!! AND YOU PUT A DANGEROUS, VERY DANGEROUS WEAPON LIKE THST IN THEIR HANDS, AND THEY JUST GO NUTS. THEY HAVE NOT ENOUGH TRAINING OR KNOWLEDGE, OR INTUITION, - - - OR LACK OF GREED, SELFISHNESS, AND CONCEIT TO NOT ABUSE THEIR USE, AND THEY DO HURT AND ENDNGER PEOPLES' LIVES WITH THEM - - - - AND ONCE THEY START, TH

Sarah O.

3:43PM PDT on Jun 20, 2010

Tranquilizing.

KayL N.

5:23PM PDT on Jun 19, 2010

Better to hurt and walk away than to die from being shot... or having a human die in place of a non-tranquilized animal.

Pete C.

1:04AM PDT on Jun 17, 2010

just stick to the way weve been doing it the last 1000 YRS!!!!!

Danielle V.

10:35PM PDT on Jun 16, 2010

I think this is a much better method than many of the other popular methods and hopefully it will prevent the wildlife from becoming too friendly towards people, preventing dangerous encounters. I imagine that if tasers are used it is in a situation like the moose in the basement, where there is no other way to help the animal while avoiding harm to the people and animal involved. Tasers are used to control people, so I see no reason why they shouldn't be used to control animals in situations where nothing else is working and there are no other safe options.