The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

I read your article about the authorities’ “battle” with cane toads and how they could be “humanely euthanised”. I was astonished to see the suggestion to put the live toads in plastic bags and freeze them. Globally, modern veterinary guidelines now rule that “cooling then freezing” is ethically unacceptable. The argument against “cooling then freezing” however rests upon a hypothesis rather than specific empirical data. The hypothesis is that temperatures low enough to induce ice-crystal formation in peripheral tissues are nonetheless high enough to allow painful sensations to travel through peripheral nerves and reach the brain, which in turn is warm enough to register those sensations as painful. The plausibility of this scenario depends upon the temperatures at which ice crystals form relative to the temperatures at which nerves and brains cease to function; and on the magnitude of thermal differentials within an animal’s body during rapid cooling. One can argue this hypothesis as there is no proof yet and the cane toads sitting in people’s freezers won’t tell.

In any event, any killing method of animals should be left to responsible persons and not published in a daily newspaper, especially in a country where most of the people are hysterical when they see a tiny frog sitting a mile away on a tree.

SUSANNE

ROLLE-TIEDEMANN

Nassau,

August 7, 2020.