Hong Kong experts defend decision to euthanize hamsters, other animals with COVID-19
By UPI Staff
Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Despite opposition and outrage from animal lovers and activists, experts in Hong Kong are defending their decision to euthanize hundreds of hamsters and other small animals after several tested positive for COVID-19 at a local pet shop.
Authorities said Tuesday that they would euthanize about 2,000 hamsters and other small animals after nearly a dozen hamsters imported from the Netherlands were found to be carrying traces of the coronavirus -- and multiple people linked to the pet shop also tested positive.
Although many health experts say it's unlikely that animals can pass COVID-19 on to humans, Hong Kong officials say they made the move because it's in the interest of public health.
Hong Kong respiratory disease expert David Hui said on Wednesday that, despite a lack of evidence, the chances of the virus spreading from hamsters to humans is "very high."
"The shopkeepers have to take care of the hamsters and clean their cages. There are many ways in which they could get infected," he said, according to the Hong Kong Free Press.
"There's no way to test each [hamster] individually. From a public health perspective, you have to euthanize the whole batch."
Animal lovers and activists reacted to the euthanization order with anger, and gathered thousands of signatures on a petition in a bid to stop the government from killing the animals.
Hong Kong's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told The Straits Times that it's shocked over the government's decision and is working to find an alternative solution to euthanasia.
"This is not mercy killing. This is murder," pet owner and actor Shafin Azim said, according to the Times. "Find a better way -- close the shop for a while, wear full protective gear before feeding, test them again.
"Are we culling the humans who are actually spreading this?"
By UPI Staff
Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Despite opposition and outrage from animal lovers and activists, experts in Hong Kong are defending their decision to euthanize hundreds of hamsters and other small animals after several tested positive for COVID-19 at a local pet shop.
Authorities said Tuesday that they would euthanize about 2,000 hamsters and other small animals after nearly a dozen hamsters imported from the Netherlands were found to be carrying traces of the coronavirus -- and multiple people linked to the pet shop also tested positive.
Although many health experts say it's unlikely that animals can pass COVID-19 on to humans, Hong Kong officials say they made the move because it's in the interest of public health.
Hong Kong respiratory disease expert David Hui said on Wednesday that, despite a lack of evidence, the chances of the virus spreading from hamsters to humans is "very high."
"The shopkeepers have to take care of the hamsters and clean their cages. There are many ways in which they could get infected," he said, according to the Hong Kong Free Press.
"There's no way to test each [hamster] individually. From a public health perspective, you have to euthanize the whole batch."
Animal lovers and activists reacted to the euthanization order with anger, and gathered thousands of signatures on a petition in a bid to stop the government from killing the animals.
Hong Kong's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told The Straits Times that it's shocked over the government's decision and is working to find an alternative solution to euthanasia.
"This is not mercy killing. This is murder," pet owner and actor Shafin Azim said, according to the Times. "Find a better way -- close the shop for a while, wear full protective gear before feeding, test them again.
"Are we culling the humans who are actually spreading this?"
The kill order came a day after a sales employee at Little Boss was reported to be infected with the Delta variant.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Claire Huang
Hong Kong Correspondent
HONG KONG - The mass culling of thousands of hamsters in the city over links to a coronavirus cluster has ignited the fury of pet lovers and anti-cruelty groups, with an online petition gaining traction.
The exasperation and angst of some residents came after the government on Tuesday (Jan 18) announced that it would put down about 2,000 hamsters from the Netherlands, as well as a number of other furry animals such as rabbits and chinchillas.
The authorities made the firm decision in the hope of cutting off Covid-19 transmission from Little Boss, a Causeway Bay pet shop where at least three people have tested positive, leading to fears of greater spread of the virus.
An online petition to stop the mass cull was created and garnered tens of thousands of signatures.
The government's move was heartbreaking for housewife Ashley Lee's two school-going daughters, who have been keeping a hamster since 2020.
"I have really mixed feelings about this issue right now. I can't really say culling is the best option for these little animals," she said, adding that her children have drawn up a plan to keep their pet safe.
"They said visitors are not allowed to touch our hamster any more and they're going to check if the visitors have been vaccinated or not."
Pet owner Shafin Azim, 40, who used to have hamsters and now cats, was shocked and livid.
In a Facebook post, the actor, who has two cats, said: "This is not mercy killing. This is murder. Find a better way - close the shop for a while, wear full protective gear before feeding, test them again.
"Are we culling the humans who are actually spreading this?"
Health officials, who defended the move, said the decision was necessary as the hamsters can excrete the virus and infect other pets and humans.
The kill order came a day after a sales employee at Little Boss, which has 15 branches and a warehouse in Tai Po, was reported on Monday to be infected with the Delta variant of the coronavirus. Some animal samples later tested positive.
Claire Huang
Hong Kong Correspondent
HONG KONG - The mass culling of thousands of hamsters in the city over links to a coronavirus cluster has ignited the fury of pet lovers and anti-cruelty groups, with an online petition gaining traction.
The exasperation and angst of some residents came after the government on Tuesday (Jan 18) announced that it would put down about 2,000 hamsters from the Netherlands, as well as a number of other furry animals such as rabbits and chinchillas.
The authorities made the firm decision in the hope of cutting off Covid-19 transmission from Little Boss, a Causeway Bay pet shop where at least three people have tested positive, leading to fears of greater spread of the virus.
An online petition to stop the mass cull was created and garnered tens of thousands of signatures.
The government's move was heartbreaking for housewife Ashley Lee's two school-going daughters, who have been keeping a hamster since 2020.
"I have really mixed feelings about this issue right now. I can't really say culling is the best option for these little animals," she said, adding that her children have drawn up a plan to keep their pet safe.
"They said visitors are not allowed to touch our hamster any more and they're going to check if the visitors have been vaccinated or not."
Pet owner Shafin Azim, 40, who used to have hamsters and now cats, was shocked and livid.
In a Facebook post, the actor, who has two cats, said: "This is not mercy killing. This is murder. Find a better way - close the shop for a while, wear full protective gear before feeding, test them again.
"Are we culling the humans who are actually spreading this?"
Health officials, who defended the move, said the decision was necessary as the hamsters can excrete the virus and infect other pets and humans.
The kill order came a day after a sales employee at Little Boss, which has 15 branches and a warehouse in Tai Po, was reported on Monday to be infected with the Delta variant of the coronavirus. Some animal samples later tested positive.
A worker from Hong Kong's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department inside the Little Boss pet store on Jan 18, 2022. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Respiratory medicine expert Leung Chi Chiu told The Straits Times that the Delta variant in the pet shop worker had a genomic sequence never seen before in Hong Kong.
Her frequent occupational exposure to a heavily infected horde of hamsters could lead to the "first reported case of what is likely hamster-to-human transmission", Dr Leung said.
He noted that hamsters, like chickens, are raised in herds and pose a hazard not only to those exposed occupationally but also pet owners. So once a human is infected, it could lead to rapid dissemination.
"Testing cannot exclude infection in incubation period, as well as low or intermittent viral shedding. Culling is therefore needed not only to protect the pet owners but also to prevent outbreak in our community," added Dr Leung.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said it was shocked and concerned over the decision, "which did not take animal welfare and human-animal bond into consideration".
"The SPCA hopes the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) won't take any drastic action before reviewing its approach. The SPCA will liaise with AFCD through different channels and discuss alternative approaches," it said.
Respiratory medicine expert Leung Chi Chiu told The Straits Times that the Delta variant in the pet shop worker had a genomic sequence never seen before in Hong Kong.
Her frequent occupational exposure to a heavily infected horde of hamsters could lead to the "first reported case of what is likely hamster-to-human transmission", Dr Leung said.
He noted that hamsters, like chickens, are raised in herds and pose a hazard not only to those exposed occupationally but also pet owners. So once a human is infected, it could lead to rapid dissemination.
"Testing cannot exclude infection in incubation period, as well as low or intermittent viral shedding. Culling is therefore needed not only to protect the pet owners but also to prevent outbreak in our community," added Dr Leung.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said it was shocked and concerned over the decision, "which did not take animal welfare and human-animal bond into consideration".
"The SPCA hopes the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) won't take any drastic action before reviewing its approach. The SPCA will liaise with AFCD through different channels and discuss alternative approaches," it said.
Hong Kong to cull hamsters after Covid-19 found in pet shop
Officials have ordered all pet shops in the city selling hamsters to shutter temporarily and appealed to families who have bought a hamster from the Little Boss pet store since Dec 22 to hand over their pet for euthanasia.
This has sparked concern from pet lovers that some people will start abandoning their pets, particularly hamsters.
The SPCA urged pet owners not to panic or abandon their pets, and to maintain strict personal hygiene.
Hong Kong officials have been scrambling to stop the spread of Omicron, which is the dominant coronavirus strain in the city, as untraceable cases in the community started popping up in the last three weeks.
Their worries have been compounded on Wednesday as clusters emerged in schools and elsewhere.
Hong Kong added 16 new cases on Wednesday, with seven of them local. This brings the total to more than 12,800 Covid-19 cases and 213 deaths.
Heartbreak as Hong Kong pet owners give up hamsters for Covid cull
AFP -
Time was running out for Pudding.
The hamster, a new addition to the Hau family, was to be given up to Hong Kong authorities for culling after rodents in a pet shop tested positive for coronavirus -- leaving Pudding's 10-year-old owner wailing in grief.
© Bertha WANG
AFP -
Time was running out for Pudding.
The hamster, a new addition to the Hau family, was to be given up to Hong Kong authorities for culling after rodents in a pet shop tested positive for coronavirus -- leaving Pudding's 10-year-old owner wailing in grief.
© Bertha WANG
People queue to drop off their hamsters at a government facility in Hong Kong
"I don't want to, I don't want to," the boy cried, his head buried in his hands as he crouched next to Pudding's pink cage, according to a video shown to AFP by his father.
© Bertha WANG
"I don't want to, I don't want to," the boy cried, his head buried in his hands as he crouched next to Pudding's pink cage, according to a video shown to AFP by his father.
© Bertha WANG
Hong Kong has ordered 1,000 animals in a pet shop to be culled along with another 1,000 hamsters in other shops across the city
But the older Hau, who would only provide his last name, said he was worried about his elderly family members who live in the same household.
"I have no choice -- the government made it sound so serious," he told AFP, shortly before entering a government-run animal management centre to submit Pudding.
He was among a steady trickle of Hong Kong pet owners arriving outside the facility on Wednesday afternoon to give up their unsuspecting furry friends.
Hong Kong on Tuesday ordered 1,000 animals in a pet shop to be culled, along with another 1,000 hamsters in other shops across the city.
Authorities also urged owners to turn in any hamsters purchased after December 22 to be put down.
The decision comes after the discovery of Covid-positive hamsters in the store. Authorities said an employee had contracted the Delta variant -- now rare in the territory -- and they ordered the cull as a "precautionary measure".
- 'Process my emotions' -
Like mainland China, Hong Kong adheres to a staunch "zero-Covid" policy, intolerant of even the merest appearance of the virus in the population of more than seven million.
But the government's latest target appears especially harsh, and swift rebukes from outraged animal lovers have pinged across social media pages.
© Bertha WANG
But the older Hau, who would only provide his last name, said he was worried about his elderly family members who live in the same household.
"I have no choice -- the government made it sound so serious," he told AFP, shortly before entering a government-run animal management centre to submit Pudding.
He was among a steady trickle of Hong Kong pet owners arriving outside the facility on Wednesday afternoon to give up their unsuspecting furry friends.
Hong Kong on Tuesday ordered 1,000 animals in a pet shop to be culled, along with another 1,000 hamsters in other shops across the city.
Authorities also urged owners to turn in any hamsters purchased after December 22 to be put down.
The decision comes after the discovery of Covid-positive hamsters in the store. Authorities said an employee had contracted the Delta variant -- now rare in the territory -- and they ordered the cull as a "precautionary measure".
- 'Process my emotions' -
Like mainland China, Hong Kong adheres to a staunch "zero-Covid" policy, intolerant of even the merest appearance of the virus in the population of more than seven million.
But the government's latest target appears especially harsh, and swift rebukes from outraged animal lovers have pinged across social media pages.
© Bertha WANG
Cheung, 32, is part of an online community of Hong Kong hamster owners who have volunteered to foster any abandoned due to the cull policy
The mood Wednesday among parents waiting to give up their pets for "humane disposal" was more forlorn.
"It began as something happy, we bought (the hamster) so the kid can have some company," a father, who provided only his surname Tsui, told AFP.
© Provided by AFP
The mood Wednesday among parents waiting to give up their pets for "humane disposal" was more forlorn.
"It began as something happy, we bought (the hamster) so the kid can have some company," a father, who provided only his surname Tsui, told AFP.
© Provided by AFP
Authorities remove hamsters from a pet shop in Hong Kong after an employee and a customer handling hamsters tested positive for coronavirus. The city will cull hundreds of the animals after some were found to have Covid, officials said Tuesday, as the city tries to maintain its strict "zero-Covid" strategy.
"Now it has come to this."
He and his wife had gifted "Marshmallow" -- a grey twitchy-nosed hamster scurrying through plastic tubes -- to their five-year-old son.
"It feels like I'm ending a life," Tsui said, adding that he did not dare break the news of Marshmallow's fate to his son.
"I need to process my own emotions before I know what to say to my kid."
He added he was disappointed the government did not offer alternatives, such as teaching people how to properly quarantine their pets.
- 'Save as many as we can' -
Hong Kong's hamster hunt has led activists and animal lovers to fret over pets being dumped on the streets en masse for fear of contracting the virus.
Cheung, 32, is part of an online community of Hong Kong hamster owners who have volunteered to foster any abandoned due to the policy.
"It's devastating. I couldn't sleep last night, because I really love small animals," he told AFP, providing only his last name over fears about criticising the government's policy.
Hong Kong already has a problem with overwhelmed first-time pet owners deserting their furry companions, and Cheung said the numbers are likely to spike after the policy.
His own two-year-old hamster, Ring, is safe for now, and may soon be joined by others.
"We want to save as many as we can," he said.
hol/dhc/axn
"Now it has come to this."
He and his wife had gifted "Marshmallow" -- a grey twitchy-nosed hamster scurrying through plastic tubes -- to their five-year-old son.
"It feels like I'm ending a life," Tsui said, adding that he did not dare break the news of Marshmallow's fate to his son.
"I need to process my own emotions before I know what to say to my kid."
He added he was disappointed the government did not offer alternatives, such as teaching people how to properly quarantine their pets.
- 'Save as many as we can' -
Hong Kong's hamster hunt has led activists and animal lovers to fret over pets being dumped on the streets en masse for fear of contracting the virus.
Cheung, 32, is part of an online community of Hong Kong hamster owners who have volunteered to foster any abandoned due to the policy.
"It's devastating. I couldn't sleep last night, because I really love small animals," he told AFP, providing only his last name over fears about criticising the government's policy.
Hong Kong already has a problem with overwhelmed first-time pet owners deserting their furry companions, and Cheung said the numbers are likely to spike after the policy.
His own two-year-old hamster, Ring, is safe for now, and may soon be joined by others.
"We want to save as many as we can," he said.
hol/dhc/axn
Stop the Government from Wrongfully Euthanising Little Boss’ Small Pets
23,721 have signed. Let’s get to 25,000!
Soren LEE started this petition to Hong Kong SPCA and
Over 2000 pets at risk for euthanasia.
Over 2000 lives on the brink of being lost.
On 18th of January, 2022, upon a staff member from Little Boss transmitting COVID-19, a hamster tested positive for the illness. The government has now decided that their optimal solution to this is to test all of the animals in the shop at the time and all of the pets that were purchased before December 22nd, and euthanise them whether or not they test positive.
Every pet owner knows that their pet’s lives are just as important as their own, yet the Hong Kong government fails to see that they, the very upholders of law, are on the dangerous path to the murders of many lives that are barely any different to ours. They fail to recognise that the lives of animals are not subjects for their selfish development, and that the act of testing the pets for scientific research and euthanising them regardless of whether they test positive or not is heartless and cruel. Just like humans, these pets could be quarantined and isolated rather than killed off mercilessly, yet authorities insisted on trading over 2000 lives for the sake of “public health needs”.
Therefore, we are asking you to lend a hand by signing this petition to support this cause. A pet is an owner’s best friend, and due to the government’s orders, thousands of people could unjustifiably lose their dearest companions. With your help, we can successfully convince the government that their decision is unjust and brutal, and you could help save dozens of animals in loving homes and happy lives.
Petition · Stop the Government from Wrongfully Euthanising Little Boss’ Small Pets · Change.org
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