Amid SARS epidemic, China panics over pets

Baltimore Sun ^ | 5-6-03 | Gady A. Epstein

[Prince Charles]

Amid SARS epidemic, China panics over pets

Fearing animals carry virus, officials and owners are putting them to death

By Gady A. Epstein, Sun Foreign Staff

Originally published May 6, 2003

BEIJING -- In a grim reflection of this city's determination to subdue the SARS epidemic, authorities in protective suits are killing dogs, in some cases by beating them, while their owners are locked away in hospital wards as suspected or confirmed cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Some owners, fearing that their pets might carry severe acute respiratory syndrome, are taking grisly measures with their dogs and cats, or abandoning them to a grim fate, since strays are being put down by authorities. Others, fearing a violent end for their pets at the hands of authorities or neighbors, are asking veterinarians to euthanize the animals.

[Risa]

Another example of Chinese unhumanity--god--they're disgusting people.

risa

[Risa]

oops... I meant 'inhumanity.'
risa

[Prince Charles]

Bump...

[Judith Anne]

So, if it is found that pets can be a SARS vector, what will people here do? I can't imagine that vets would be willing to put all these animals down and dispose of the bodies if SARS is a concern...

On the other hand, I can't even conceive of beating an animal to death...

[aristeides]

On the other hand, I can't even conceive of beating an animal to death...

Is the Chinese government afraid to issue firearms and bullets to these operatives?

I think it is most unlikely that cats and dogs are infected by this disease.

[Dog Gone]

How hard would it be to test dogs and cats to see if they can even get the disease? It can't be as hard as clubbing a couple billion pets to death.

[Judith Anne]

I believe that there will be, to us, unthinkable insanity in China over this disease...from the nursing assistants who were discarded when they got sick after taking care of SARS patients (and not included in the statistics, BTW) to the "hospitals" built in a week to house a thousand sick people, to the farmers guarding the roads into their villages with guns, to the overthrow of Beijing, and millions sick in rural China...

[Dog Gone]

The disease is spreading across the border into Russia, so SARS is probably far more widespread in the rural areas now than we realize.

[Judith Anne]

Look for it in a hospital near you, this fall...:-(

[vetvetdoug]

I think the chance of animals carrying the SARS virus that will infect humans is the same as being hit up the butt with an asteroid.

[Judith Anne]

Well, unless you ascribe SARS to biowarfare, the virus came from the farmers in the Guandong Province, who keep animals in close proximity to (or inside of) their homes.

Monkeys can get SARS--and I'm not sure which other animals can, besides swine--but I wouldn't be surprised if many animals are vulnerable to SARS. Coronaviruses aren't limited to humans by any means, and jump species barriers often.

[The Pheonix]

I know how you feel,

But the Chinese, whose lives are threatened by SARS, are no more disgusting than the Canadians who club 1000s of baby seals for their fur coats

or the grey-hound racing owners who tie up the retired grey-hounds and also club them to death

[Risa]

>>
But the Chinese, whose lives are threatened by SARS, are no more disgusting than the Canadians who club 1000s of baby seals for their fur coats

or the grey-hound racing owners who tie up the retired grey-hounds and also club them to death<<

Yes, you're absolutely right; the Chinese people don't hold a monopoly on the disgusting torture of animals. Thank you for reminding me.

regards,
Risa

[Ma Li]

Actually, the Beijing government has always beaten dogs to death if they were found to have no license, and they knew the people wouldn't pay the license fee. (The fee ends up, in the end, being about 3,000RMB for the first year, and around 1,000 to 3,000 each year after that).

[aristeides]

Why beat them to death instead of, say, shooting them?

[Ma Li]

Because most of the police aren't armed. They only arm the ones that work in supressing the population and political problems. But the ordinary police--traffic cops, the ones checking up on pets, stores, normal crime prevention and suppression--would never be armed. They might present a defense should the army need to "control" people again. When they want to control people in a physically violent fashion, they use the army.

Why bother shooting a pet if you have no conscience about beating it to death? It's cheaper.