Pet lovers have said authorities in Hong Kong would have to “kill them first” before they give up their beloved hamsters in a planned Covid cull.
It comes as thousands of people in Hong Kong have also volunteered to adopt hamsters from owners who would abandon their pets.
Authorities ordered 2,000 hamsters from dozens of pet shops and storage facilities to be culled last Tuesday after tracing a Covid outbreak to a worker in the Little Boss petshop, where 11 hamsters subsequently tested positive.
But one hamster owner said she would have to be killed first before her pet, which she bought on January 1, is taken away after testing negative for Covid.
She told local outlet The Standard : “If the testing result shows I’m not infected no one can take my hamster away unless they kill me.
“The government is not treating pets as animals. Will they also kill all infected Covid-19 patients and their close contacts?”
Scientists around the world and Hong Kong health and veterinary authorities have said there was no evidence that animals play a major role in human contagion with coronavirus.
But having pursued Covid zero tolerance, Health Secretary Sophia Chan said she could not rule out transmission possibilities and so the government could take no chances.
Health workers in hazmat suits have been seen walking out of pet shops around the city carrying red plastic bags into their vans. Some 150 of the petshop's customers were sent into quarantine.
Public broadcaster RTHK said some hamster owners were seen handing over their animals at a government facility in the New Territories, while groups swiftly formed on social media to identify new owners for unwanted pets.
Ocean, 29, a hamster owner and the administrator of "Hong Kong the Cute Hamster Group" on Telegram, said the group was contacted by almost 3,000 people willing to take care of unwanted animals temporarily.
Three young owners were pressured by their families to get rid of their hamsters even though they all owned them for more than half a year, said Ocean, adding: "Many pet owners are unfamiliar with the exact risks and give up their hamsters."
Bowie, 27, one of those who volunteered in the group, is now the owner of two new hamsters.
"This is ridiculous," said Bowie, who already owned three other hamsters. "Animals' life is also life. Today it can be hamsters or rabbits, tomorrow it can be cats or dogs.''
The local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), which runs veterinary clinics, said "numerous" worried pet owners have been contacting them for advice.
"We urge the pet owners not to panic or abandon their pets," SPCA said in a statement.
SPCA listed ways to maintain strict personal hygiene for the safety of humans and animals, including never to kiss, cough at or snort near pets, and washing hands after handling them.
