HONG KONG, Jan 19 – Hundreds of individuals in Hong Kong volunteered on Wednesday to undertake undesirable hamsters after a mass cull order from the federal government over COVID-19 fears raised alarm that panicky house owners would abandon their pets.
Authorities ordered on Tuesday 2,000 hamsters from dozens of pet retailers and storage services to be culled after tracing a coronavirus outbreak to a employee within the Little Boss petshop, the place 11 hamsters subsequently examined constructive for COVID-19.
Scientists world wide and Hong Kong well being and veterinary authorities have stated there was no proof that animals play a serious position in human contagion with the coronavirus.
However having pursued a coverage of zero tolerance for COVID-19, Well being Secretary Sophia Chan stated on Tuesday she couldn't rule out any transmission prospects and due to this fact the federal government may take no possibilities.
Quickly after, well being staff in hazmat fits had been seen strolling out of pet retailers across the metropolis carrying purple plastic luggage into their vans. Some 150 of the petshop’s clients had been despatched into quarantine.
Public broadcaster RTHK stated some hamster house owners had been seen handing over their animals at a authorities facility within the New Territories, whereas teams swiftly shaped on social media to determine new house owners for undesirable pet rodents.
Ocean, 29, a hamster proprietor and the administrator of ‘Hong Kong the Cute Hamster Group’ on the Telegram social media app, stated the group was contacted by virtually 3,000 individuals keen to handle undesirable animals briefly.
Three younger house owners had been pressured by their households to do away with their hamsters regardless that all of them owned them for greater than half a 12 months, stated Ocean, who declined to offer her final title fearing indignant reactions from those that assist the cull.
“Many pet house owners are unfamiliar with the precise dangers and quit their hamsters,” she stated.
Bowie, 27, a kind of who volunteered within the group, is now the proprietor of two new hamsters.
“That is ridiculous,” stated Bowie, who already owned three different hamsters. “Animals’ life can be life. At the moment it may be hamsters or rabbits, tomorrow it may be cats or canine.”
The native Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), which runs veterinary clinics, advised Reuters “quite a few” apprehensive pet house owners have been contacting them for recommendation.
“We urge the pet house owners to not panic or abandon their pets,” SPCA stated in an announcement.
SPCA listed methods to take care of strict private hygiene for the protection of people and animals, together with by no means to kiss, cough at or snort close to pets, and washing fingers after dealing with them.
The typical lifespan of a hamster is about two years, in line with animal welfare teams.
“Overblown“
Except for ordering the cull, authorities requested dozens of petshops to shut, whereas imports and gross sales of small mammals had been suspended. Patrons of hamsters after Dec. 22, 2021 had been requested handy them to authorities for culling and never depart them on streets.
Authorities arrange a hotline for enquiries. It was unclear what number of hamsters had been handed in.
Most Hong Kong newspapers featured footage of individuals in hazmat fits in entrance of pet retailers and illustrations of hamsters on their entrance web page on Wednesday, with pro-Beijing Ta Kung Pao day by day showcasing a tiny rodent inside a spiked virus particle.
Vanessa Barrs, professor of companion animal well being at Metropolis College of Hong Kong, stated the transfer to cull the hamsters up on the market could possibly be justified on public well being safety grounds, however fears of an infection at house had been overblown.
“Thousands and thousands of individuals world wide have pets, and there have been no circumstances confirmed of pets transmitting an infection to different people,” Barrs stated.
“The theoretical threat is there, however it simply doesn’t occur.”
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