The so-called death trucks were introduced after residents of Tokushima prefecture, in south-west Japan, said they did not want abandoned animals destroyed in their neighbourhood. The council's solution was to put the unwanted animals to sleep while they are transported to a regional crematorium, ensuring they are dead on arrival.
Dogs and cats marked for death are shut inside sealed metal boxes termed "sedation equipment" measuring 1.2 metres wide, 1.2 metres high and 1.5 metres deep, officials said.
Once the eight-tonne truck is on the road, the driver pushes a button that releases carbon dioxide into the boxes. The journey to the regional crematorium takes about one hour. By the time the truck arrives, the animals are said to be dead.
Tokushima officials described the trucks as a last-ditch measure, saying they would prefer the condemned pets to go to good homes. "If possible we would like them to have an owner and live on," said an official at an animal welfare centre in Kamiyama.
The mobile gas chamber system has proved to be highly efficient, with an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 dogs and cats gassed annually. One advantage of killing animals in a moving vehicle is said to be that it removes the need to find a permanent site for destroying them.
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