Hong Kong health officials are planning to cull close to 2,000 hamsters and hundreds of other small animals to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The plan was announced after a pet store owner and several animals sold as pets had tested positive for the virus. The planned culling is part of China's wider and uncompromising zero-COVID strategy.
The announcement of the small furry animals' planned killing sparked outrage amongst pet owners and animal rights groups in Hong Kong. This eventually led to the launch of an online petition that urged officials to reconsider their extreme plan.
The online petition begging the authorities not to exterminate the animals has received over 20,000 signatures. Concerned citizens argued that many hamsters might have been acquired as gifts for young children over the holidays. The Hong Kong Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said it was shocked at the government's decision as it did not take into consideration how owners would feel about their pets being taken away and killed.
The decision came after a 23-year-old employee working at a Little Boss pet store tested positive for the Delta variant of the coronavirus on Monday. Health officials have since confirmed that a customer who had interacted with the pet store employee had tested positive as well.
Health officials claimed that further testing found that 11 hamsters inside the store were positive for COVID-19, raising concerns that the tiny animals may have transmitted the disease. Health experts previously stated that animal-to-human infections of COVID-19 are possible, but the likelihood is extremely low.
Further tracing found that several small animals that were being kept at a separate warehouse owned by the pet store also showed traces of the coronavirus. Officials said the infected hamsters had been imported from the Netherlands and arrived in the city earlier this month.
On Tuesday, Hong Kong authorities seized all the animals owned by the shop. Authorities confiscated hundreds of hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, and chinchillas, which are set to be tested and killed regardless of whether they are infected or not. Officials explained that the animals had to be put down as they presented a public health hazard.
Other pet stores in Hong Kong have been ordered to surrender all their small animals to be culled. Pet owners who bought hamsters, rabbits, and other small animals were also ordered to hand them over so they could be tested and put down. Officials assured the public that all of the animals would be put down "humanely."
