Hong Kong's Covid-19 hamster cull sparks fear of owners abandoning pets

The local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals , which runs veterinary clinics, told Reuters “numerous” worried pet owners have been contacting them for advice.Scientists around the world and Hong Kong health and veterinary authorities have said there was no evidence that animals play a major role in human contagion with the coronavirus.

But having pursued a policy of zero tolerance for Covid-19, Hong Kong government officials took no chances after a series of recent infections with the Delta variant were traced back to a worker at a petshop. Hundreds of samples were collected from animals, including rabbits and chinchillas, but only the hamsters tested positive for Covid-19, resulting in officials giving orders for some 2,000 hamsters from 34 pet shops to be put down “humanely.”

Vanessa Barrs, professor of companion animal health at City University of Hong Kong, said the move to cull the hamsters up for sale could be justified on public health protection grounds, but fears of infection at home were overblown. “Millions of people around the world have pets, and there have been no cases proven of pets transmitting infection to other humans,” Barrs said.

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