Coronavirus: China is killing the pets of Covid-19 patients without their consent under draconian new measures

China is battling renewed coronavirus outbreaks as Beijing persists with its controversial zero tolerance strategy for Covid-19

Some have reported coming home to find their pets have been killed while they were in quarantine or being treated

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As part of harsh and controversial coronavirus prevention measures, authorities in China are sweeping the houses of those quarantined and killing any pets they find. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:00pm, 12 Nov 2021Updated: 3:40pm, 14 Nov 2021

This winter, Beijing resident Lisa Li is more careful than ever to not get sick.

She has been social distancing and following other measures to protect herself, and says if there’s another regional outbreak in Beijing, she would self-quarantine immediately and cut off contact with the outside world.

“If I happen to catch Covid-19, what if my cat starves to death or gets killed while I’m in quarantine?” she told the South China Morning Post.

She’s referring to a spate of recent incidents in China where the pets of coronavirus patients were forcefully killed by local governments as part of their strict virus prevention measures.

Three cats owned by a Covid-19 patient in Harbin were diagnosed with the disease, and put down without the owner’s consent. Photo: Weixin

This month, a Chengdu resident in southwestern China claimed on the social media platform Xiaohongshu that her cats were killed after she was moved from her home into quarantine. Just two months prior, a Harbin woman from northeast China said on Weibo that her three cats were killed by community workers after they were tested positive for the virus.

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