Pet cats euthanized after testing positive for coronavirus

Three pet cats were euthanized yesterday after they and their owner all tested positive for the coronavirus in Harbin, in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

The COVID-19 patient under treatment was notified on September 27 by community workers that her three pet cats had tested positive for the virus twice, The Beijing News reported yesterday.

Community workers said that putting them down was the only option as there was nowhere to treat these cats, the patient told the newspaper.

"I had raised one of them for five to six years and the other two four to five years. They asked me to write a letter of consent," the owner said, choking with tears.

Since it was uncertain whether the cats could beat the virus, if they died naturally at the home, their bodies could rot. So putting them to sleep was considered a better way, an unnamed community worker explained, the report said.

If the cats were kept at the home, the environment would be contaminated with the coronavirus, and the patient wouldn't be able to come back home even after being discharged upon recovery, the community worker added.

According to China's Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, wild animals, livestock, and poultry can be culled when necessary in order to curb the spread of disease.

Denmark culled 17 million minks in November 2020 in response to COVID-19 outbreaks at more than 200 mink farms after a mutated form of coronavirus that can spread to humans was found at the farms.

As of September 28, Harbin has reported 68 local COVID-19 cases and seven asymptomatic patients.