Abstract
The question whether decapitation is a humane method of euthanasia in awake animals is being debated. To gather arguments in this debate, obsolete rats were decapitated while recording the EEG, both of awake rats and of anesthetized rats. Following decapitation a fast and global loss of power of the EEG was observed; the power in the 13–100 Hz frequency band, expressing cognitive activity, decreased according to an exponential decay function to half the initial value within 4 seconds. Whereas the pre-decapitation EEG of the anesthetized animals showed a burst suppression pattern quite different from the awake animals, the power in the postdecapitation EEG did not differ between the two groups. This might indicate that either the power of the EEG does not correlate well with consciousness or that consciousness is briefly regained in the anesthetized group after decapitation. Remarkably, after 50 seconds (awake group) or 80 seconds (anesthetized group) following decapitation, a high amplitude slow wave was observed. The EEG before this wave had more power than the signal after the wave. This wave might be due to a simultaneous massive loss of membrane potentials of the neurons. Still functioning ion channels, which keep the membrane potential intact before the wave, might explain the observed power difference. Two conclusions were drawn from this experiment. It is likely that consciousness vanishes within seconds after decapitation, implying that decapitation is a quick and not an inhumane method of euthanasia. It seems that the massive wave which can be recorded approximately one minute after decapitation reflects the ultimate border between life and death. This observation might have implications in the discussions on the appropriate time for organ donation.
Highlights
Decapitation is a procedure to euthanize small animals, such as rats and birds
Given the debate about this matter, there is no consensus about the acceptance of decapitation as an adequate euthanasia method in the Animal Ethical Committees in The Netherlands, having the task to consider whether animal experiments are allowed
The question how long consciousness is present after a neck cut is essential to gauge the humane nature and acceptability of decapitation
Summary
Decapitation is a procedure to euthanize small animals, such as rats and birds It is achieved by swiftly cutting the neck of the animal close to the head, by using a guillotine with a sharp blade. The advantage of this technique is that it provides a means to obtain brain tissues and fluids that are not contaminated with chemicals such as gases and anesthetics, and not affected by electrical currents. The method is not free from controversies and still not generally accepted as an acceptable humane euthanasia procedure [1] This is so the majority of researchers conclude that decapitation is not an inhumane technique [2,3,4]. The question how long consciousness is present after a neck cut is essential to gauge the humane nature and acceptability of decapitation
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