Inhumane Rat Killing--I'm Upset

[Chu'Wuti]

I just learned--after buying 2 months supply of rats for various snakes--that the rat breeder I buy from DROWNS the rats. I was so shocked that I couldn't say anything, but it has been preying on my mind (pun not intended).

As I was tossing the frozen rats into my freezer, he mentioned that I would probably have to partially thaw them to get them separated because he hadn't dried them after drowning them. I thought I hadn't heard him correctly at first, then realized he was completely serious. This was yesterday; today I looked up the American Veterinary Association's humane euthanasia guidelines to double-check them because I had never heard anyone else say they used this method, and because I've seen LOTS of posts here on ssnakess.com about the use of CO2 or other humane methods, and drowning was never mentioned. It made me think of water-boarding . . . ugh.

Needless to say, I won't be buying any more rats from this person. However, he is a fairly well-respected snake breeder in my local area, and I am struggling with what to say to others. I want very badly to tell people he is using inhumane kill methods, but it won't go over well, I know.

How would some of you handle this??