Stricter guidelines for using gas chambers to euthanize animals have the four Kansas communities that still operate them looking for affordable alternatives.

Kansas is one of only 11 states that still use that method.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture says it plans to adopt 2013 American Veterinary Medical Association guidelines that will make it almost impossible for the state’s aging chambers to keep operating.

Humboldt police Lt. Jeff Collins says it costs about $37.50 to have a veterinarian put down a single feral cat, while a bottle of carbon monoxide that can be used 200 times costs $13.

Opponents say the method isolates animals in a tight, dark box where they wait alone until gas that doesn’t immediately kill them is pumped in.

Eureka, Humboldt, Norton and Chanute remain the last known pounds to have operating gas chambers in the state, though Humboldt hasn’t used its chamber in at least a year. Last month, Eureka and Chanute started working with the Humane Society of the United States to end the practice.

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Associated Press information from: The Topeka Capital-Journal