A dart gun is an air rifle that fires a dart.What is chemical capture? The dart is tipped with a hypodermic needle and filled with a general anesthetic,Anaesthetics also used in dart guns vaccine or antibiotic.| Veterinary Drugs & Dosages Table A dart gun containing an anesthetic is called a tranquillizer gun (also spelled tranquilizer gun, tranquilliser gun or tranquiliser gun).
History The modern dart gun was invented in the 1950s by New Zealander Colin Murdoch.Colin Murdoch, Dreamer for Millions During his involvement in a research project on Himalayan tahr in the Southern Alps, he considered that administering a dose of anesthetic from afar was safer for humans and more humane for animals than current methods of capture. To that end, Murdoch went on to develop a range of rifles, darts, and pistols.
The first modern remote drug-delivery system was invented by scientists at the University of Georgia in the 1950s, and was the direct predecessor to the Cap-Chur equipment used worldwide for decades. In 1953, a study on antler growth was conducted in which seven free-ranging bucks were tranquilized — three died from overdose, three were successfully anesthetized, and one was minimally sedated.
In the late 1950s, a team in Kenya headed by Toni Harthoorn discovered that various species, despite being of roughly equal size (for example, the rhinoceros and the buffalo), needed very different doses and spectra of drugs to safely anesthetize them. They also found that much like humans, rhinos given a dose insufficient to anesthetize them were still sedated enough to be manageable if the procedure wasn't invasive.
In June, 1961, a 220-pound man was confined in the maximum security cell of the Clarke County Jail in Athens, Georgia, while awaiting transfer to the state mental hospital because of paranoid behavior. He became violently agitated, ripped the bars from the windows, and began to break through the masonry walls of his cell. When several efforts to subdue him failed, Sheriff H. T. Huff and Dr. C. D. Warren (then county physician) requested the University of Georgia School of Veterinary Medicine to send a tranquilizer gun to the jail. Dr. T. R. Ridgeway'O complied with this request and, with the assistance of Dr. Warren (who sterilized the equipment and prepared the drug), used the tranquilizer gun to deliver 7 1/2 grains of sodium amytal to the prisoner. The dart, fired from a distance of about ten feet, hit the left mid-flank of the prisoner. The prisoner lunged through a hole in the wall and sustained a scalp injury during his scuffle with the with police officers. Almost six minutes after being darted, the prisoner lost consciousness and was handcuffed. They considered this a success since they had managed to subdue the prisoner without shooting him or otherwise harming him. This was the weapon's first known usage on a human being.
In the early 1960s, the New York City Police Department considered adopting the tranquilizer gun. Deputy Commissioner Walter Arm suggested that it might replace tear gas if adopted but stressed that it would not be used for crowd control. In April 1962, the Planning Bureau arranged to pick up samples of weapons and anesthetics manufactured by the Palmer Chemical and Equipment Company of Douglasville, Georgia. Samples of the anesthetics were turned over to the medical department for study, and the darts were tests on silhouette targets in pistol ranges. Tests in pistol ranges showed an accuracy rate of 90 percent at a range up to 45 yards. "The dart gun is still under study and in the experimental and research stages," Arm pointed out. "No recommendation has been made for its use." The department eventually rejected the weapon, both for not being as fast-acting as tear gas and for its potential to kill.
Since 1967, hollow bullets with sedatives for anesthesia of wild animals began to be used in the USSR.С. Успенский. Обездвиживание - перспективный метод отлова животных // журнал "Охота и охотничье хозяйство", № 12, 1969. стр.14-15 In the first half of the 1970s, experimental 9×53mmR cartridges for anesthesia of wild animals for 9mm "Los" bolt-action carbine and "flying dart" for 16 gauge shotguns were made and tested.канд. биол. н. Ю. Герасимов. Обездвиживание животных // журнал «Охота и охотничье хозяйство», № 3, 1975. стр.14-15 In the mid-1970s, "flying dart" for 12 gauge shotguns and experimental cartridges for anesthesia of wild animals for the SPSh-44 pistol were made and tested.И. Новиченков, Н. Грошков. Наш способ обездвиживания животных // журнал «Охота и охотничье хозяйство», № 11, 1976. стр.24-25 In the second half of the 1980s, the standard tranquillizer gun in the USSR was a single-shot IZh-18M shotgun (a dart with a dose of sedative was fired with a blank cartridge).Э. Корепанов. Ижевские ружья: прошлое, настоящее, будущее // журнал «Охота и охотничье хозяйство», № 1, 1987. стр.26-28
In 1968, after several failed prisoner-snatch missions in Vietnam, Chief SOG Colonel Jack Singlaub insisted on using tranquilizer darts. In the following prisoner-snatch mission, several SOG teams used tranquilizer guns with varying doses. NVA men who had been darted with lower doses retaliated and had to be shot, and NVA men who had been darted with higher doses died from overdose. None were successfully captured.
In 1979, Murdoch received a call from a police marksman on the Armed Offenders Squad about a man who had taken his wife hostage, recognizing that the offender could not be reasoned with and that a standard firearm would risk the hostage's life. Murdoch gave the officer instructions on what dose to use, where to dart the offender, and at what setting to have the weapon's velocity. The hostage taker lost consciousness within minutes, and the hostage was rescued. This is the last known case of a tranquilizer dart being legally authorized for use on a human.
While initially designed for delivering anesthetics, veterinarians and farmers recognized that the remote drug-delivery system could be used to deliver medications. In 1993, the first wildlife contraceptive was invented, and darts have since been used to deliver contraceptives to does — a humane alternative to hunting.Schuerman, M. Birth Control for Deer?. Audubon February 8, 2002. Starting in Kansas in the late 90s, it has become commonplace for farmers to use darts to deliver antibiotics to sick cattle. While farmers had been administering medications to cattle before the invention of the dart gun, it had been impossible to do so without capturing the animal.
Characteristics
The dart, which varies in size depending on weight and species, is a ballistic syringe loaded with a solution and tipped with a hypodermic needle. The dart is propelled from the gun by compressed gas, and it is stabilized in flight by a tailpiece consisting of a tuft of fibrous material. The needle may be plain or collared, with a barb-like ring to improve retention of the needle and syringe to assure that the full dose is administered. Darts are designed to be fired full, so if the dart is too big for the dose, it must be topped up with water.
Methods of driving injection upon impact include: gas compression, spring compression, explosive charge, or gas evolution reaction. In one example, compressed air or butane in the rear of the dart pressurizes the solution, while the needle is capped to hold the fluid in place. Upon striking the target, the cap is pierced by the needle as it punctures the animal's skin. With the pressure released, the compressed gas pushes the solution out of the syringe and into the target.
Lethality As with all forms of sedation, tranquilizer darts are never risk-free. Unlike other forms of sedation, it is not possible to perform a pre-anesthetic evaluation beforehand, as this requires a level of cooperation that would make darting unnecessary. Supportive care for unconscious animals, such as artificial ventilation, intravenous therapy, or inotropic support, is often not possible in field situations. In addition to the risks of the anesthetic itself such as respiratory failure from overdose, fatal allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis, and aspiration pneumonia or asphyxiation from vomiting while unconscious, there are other circumstances that pose secondary risks of serious injury or death, such as subjects running into a body of water and drowning, falling victim to predators, climbing to potentially fatal heights before falling, or overheating while anesthetized. One of the most controversial animal deaths caused by tranquilization was in February 2009 when a 10-pound dog that had gotten loose was tranquilized by animal control and subsequently died from overdose. "The dog was jumping around a man who was in the area holding his child, wanting to play. That's why it's so unbelievable they shot it with dart," a witness recounted.
In 1987, as the New York City Police Department continued its search "for a device that is stronger than a nightstick and less dangerous than a gun", they rejected tranquilizer darts as "too dangerous".
Darts can be dangerous regardless of what they are being used to deliver, as they can cause fatal injury due to improper velocity setting or shot placement.
Agents
Tranquilizers Several immobilizing drugs have been devised for use in tranquillizer darts.Tranquillizer agents If an animal is calm or in a position where it cannot attack, a slow-acting anesthetic will be used. These include:
Azaperone Detomidine Midazolam Fentanyl and carfentanil Haloperidol Etorphine Diazepam Xylazine Sodium thiopental
If an animal is out of control, a fast-acting anesthetic will be used. These take between 2 and 8 minutes to take effect and include: Etorphine hydrochloride Ketamine
Antibiotics
Antibiotics used in antibiotic darts vary by species.
Deer: Enrofloxacin Oxytetracycline Trimethoprim
Fox: Amoxicillin Augmentin Clindamycin Enrofloxacin Use on animals Domestic animals Animal control agencies may use darts to deliver anesthetics to stray, feral, or injured dogs when other methods, such as catch poles and snares, have failed. While there is no weight limit, veterinarians advise against using tranquilizer darts on cats because of how difficult it is to get the right dose for small animals without a pre-anesthetic evaluation. Darts designed for cats and small dogs exist, but are primarily used to deliver vaccines and antibiotics. Veterinarians in third-world countries may use darts to deliver vaccines to free-ranging dogs to prevent them from contracting rabies. Wildlife Animal control agencies may use darts to deliver anesthetics to large wildlife that has wandered into human territory. Wildlife conservationists may use darts to deliver anesthetics to animals that are injured, entangled, or requiring surgery. In parts of the United States, does are shot with darts containing a wildlife contraceptive, rendering them temporarily infertile. Exotic animals Tranquillizer darts may be used by zoo emergency response teams when an animal has escaped from its enclosure or when a visitor falls into an enclosure. Cetaceans National Marine Mammal Entanglement Response Networks may use darts to deliver anesthetics to entangled cetaceans. Farmed animals Farmers may use darts to deliver antibiotics and vaccines to cattle. Animal control agencies may use darts to deliver anesthetics to escaped cattle, sheep, or pigs.
Use on humans Police use