Pet hamster tests positive for COVID-19 in Hong Kong
After a pet hamster tested positive, 2,200 hamsters were culled by Hong Kong government struggling to contain COVID-19 outbreak
January 24, 2022
- Hamster surrendered to authorities by pet owners tests positive for COVID-19 in Hong Kong.
- Government culled 2,200 hamsters as the city struggles to contain an outbreak.
- Authorities urging pet-owners to continue to hand over their tiny furry pets.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong authorities said Sunday that one hamster surrendered to authorities by pet owners had tested positive for COVID-19 and that over 2,200 hamsters had been culled as the city struggled to contain an outbreak.
On Tuesday, officials ordered the killing of hamsters from dozens of pet shops after tracing a coronavirus outbreak to a worker at a shop and asked people to surrender any bought on or after Dec. 22.
While a handful of hamsters had already tested positive for the virus, this latest case is the first involving a hamster in the care of a pet-owner that had tested positive.
Despite a public outcry against the hamster crackdown, authorities urged pet-owners to continue to hand over their tiny furry pets given burgeoning health risks.
"(The government) strongly advises members of the public again to surrender ... as soon as possible their hamsters purchased in local pet shops on or after December 22, 2021 for humane dispatch," the government said in a statement.
As of January 22, a total of 2,512 animals, including 2,229 hamsters, had been "humanely dispatched," according to a government statement.
Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam earlier told reporters that she understood "pet owners are unhappy" with the killings, but said the biggest priority was to control the outbreak.
The government described the outcry as "irrational".
Thousands of people have offered to adopt unwanted hamsters.
