My Take | The jury is still out on whether the hamster cull was justified
- Strict measures need to be backed by science and go no further than necessary to protect public health. And the impact on people’s lives must be considered
Hong Kong is familiar with tough measures aimed at eradicating Covid-19. But last week’s mass cull of hamsters took everyone by surprise. The drastic move sparked a fierce backlash from animal welfare groups, pet shops and heartbroken owners of the little creatures. It made headlines around the world.
The decision was prompted by a return of the Delta variant to the city, with a pet shop worker in Causeway Bay testing positive. It is not yet known how she became infected. But 11 hamsters at the store were found to be carrying the virus. This raised the worrying possibility of animal to human transmission.
Alarmed health officials wasted no time. Hamsters in two batches from the Netherlands were to be culled and 34 pet shops temporarily closed.
The most emotive measure was the “strong recommendation” that owners of hamsters acquired after December 22 surrender their pets to be killed. Many complied, amid tearful scenes as people said a final goodbye to their pets.
The cull has attracted much criticism. Thousands signed a petition opposing what it described as the “murder” of the hamsters. The Society for the Protection of Animals urged the government to reconsider saying it was shocked at the move which “did not take animal welfare and human-animal bond into consideration”. Meanwhile, pet lovers volunteered to take hamsters off the hands of worried owners rather than see them killed.
It is still not clear whether there was any transmission of the virus from a hamster to the pet shop worker. Experts around the world have generally taken the view that the chances of animals passing Covid-19 on to humans are very low. The notable exception was in Denmark in 2020 when 17 million mink were controversially culled after some handlers contracted Covid-19 from the animals.