GALLATIN, Tenn. -- The I-Team recently got a glimpse at the way thousands of local animals are put down, and it’s not what some might expect.

Video: I-Team Reveals Vet's Questionable Euthanizing Method

The I-Team’s Jeremy Finley brought the issue to the government’s attention.

Every animal care professional who saw what's happening said it is wrong.

For residents who have had to put down a favorite dog or cat, their veterinarian probably made it as painless as possible. A shot is given to completely sedate the pet, then a lethal injection to a vein, and he or she quietly went to sleep and died.

But for some animals at the Sumner County Animal Shelter, death comes differently. The Sumner County Animal Shelter is not associated with the Humane Society of Sumner County.

"It's just a horrible, horrible way for an animal to have to die,” said former euthanasia technician June McMahon.

Some video obtained by the I-Team shows several days in September when animals were put to sleep behind closed doors inside the Sumner County Animal Shelter.

Nine different veterinarians, veterinarian technicians and shelter directors all agreed that what is seen on the tape isn't the way to euthanize animals.

According to the tape, dogs were brought in by trustees from the local jail, pulled up and lethally injected right into the heart with no sedation and were dead within minutes.

What vets call the heart shot is such a last resort that veterinary technicians are prohibited by state law from administering it unless the animals are heavily sedated or comatose.

The Sumner County Animal Shelter’s own guidelines ban the heart shot, also known as intracardiac euthansia.

But, according to the tape, it’s happening again and again.

“It's pretty cruel, you know. It's how they do it,” a trustee said.

The trustee said he witnessed hundreds of heart shots. He said some were administered so quickly that the veterinarian actually missed the heart.

"You know they scream. I've actually seen them just stagger everywhere, just underneath his feet, down the hallway, outside, finally just collapse,” he said.

Then there are the cats pulled in on catch poles. The video shows doctors stepping on them to help control them, then administering the shot.

As with the dogs, the critical thing that is clear is that the cats are also not sedated.

The video shows animals brought in sometimes as frequently as once a minute, and county records verify large numbers of animals were euthanized. In one case, 60 were put down in one day.

“It's so quick-paced. It's just pop, pop, pop. It's all about the money,” the trustee said.

The money the trustee referred to goes to Gallatin veterinarian Dr. Bill Baber. The county pays Baber $9 per animal and has paid him more than $22,000 in the past year, according to records.

McMahon is among the nine animal care professionals who saw the tape independent of each other.

“It's horrible. Any person in their right mind would say that,” she said.

Baber didn't deny what is going on but said he's doing nothing wrong.

"There's a difference between shelter medicine and veterinary medicine. It ain't pretty,” he said. He referred all questions to Sumner County Executive Hank Thompson, who hired him.

“You know you'll have people saying, ‘I can't believe this is happening in our shelter,’” Finley told Thompson.

"Oh I'm sure, but like I say, we've hired a licensed veterinarian to do that. What else are we supposed to do?” Thompson said.

The county said it has gotten complaints before and told Baber to stop.

"I know several months ago, we talked to him about the heart shots shouldn't be used and need to do it another way,” Thompson said.

"So you were very clear that the heart shot shouldn't be used?” Finley said.

"Well, we talked about it months ago, and that was the complaint that they had,” said Thompson.

Baber wouldn't talk about that but said that he did sedate some animals at the shelter.

“I do a difficult job to the best of my ability,” Baber said.

He said what was on the videotape is the ugly truth of what happens in a lot of shelters.

The I-Team checked with six other area animal shelters and humane societies. All of them said that they do not use the heart shot method.

"These are animals that nobody wanted in the first place. Does it matter the manner in which they are put down?" Finley said.

"(Of) course it does. Especially so, I would think, because these are animals who have probably never known a kind moment,” McMahon said. “Most of these animals have had horrible lives. If they're going to die, it needs to be with dignity."

Baber said he's done nothing wrong. Although there are euthanasia guidelines set by law for veterinary technicians to follow, it's unclear if that also applies to veterinarians.

The I-Team’s investigation has prompted action by the county and the state.

Watch Channel 4 News Friday for more on this story.