China ’rounds up and executes dogs to stop coronavirus’ even though no evidence of it spreading to pets
CHINESE officials have been rounding up beloved pets family by family and executing them to stop the spread of the coronavirus, according to animal activists.
The World Health Organization has said there is no evidence to suggest the virus is being transmitted to pets.
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Fears over pets spreading the virus circulated last month after a Chinese health expert claimed animals needed to be quarantined.
Community officers the southwestern Sichuan Province in China reportedly knocked on doors and ordered residents to give up their pets before slaughtering them.
Distressing video shared by Nanchong Missing Animal Aid Group shows a number of bloodied dogs, believed to be dead, lying in the back of the truck.
The group shared the video on its account on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo and claimed the dogs belonged to the families in the Qianqiubang villages.
Another local authority in Shaanxi urged residents to “consider the overall situation” and to dispose of their pets, it has been reported.
There have also been reports of pet owners chucking their cats and dogs out of towerblocks following the unproven claims the virus being passed on by animals.
In other parts of China, owners are making their pets wear bizarre makeshift masks.