Picture Credit: Sally Ho
Human Fears For Animals
Covid-19 Pet Killings
Recently, there have been a few rumours going around saying that domestic livestock and pets can spread coronavirus. These rumours were started due to recent reports that cats and tigers have contracted COVID-19 which has caused fears that agricultural and companion animals could be next.
Things have gotten so out of hand that in Lebanon, groups and individuals have allegedly left poisoned meat in the streets to kill dogs due to fears of the coronavirus and economic pressures caused by the lockdowns.
The truth of the matter is that it is very unlikely for domestic livestock to become a COVID-19 source. Researchers in China found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus; which causes the coronavirus; replicates poorly in chickens and ducks, but efficiently in ferrets and cats. The study on cats specifically, has not yet been certified by peer review, has found that cats can transmit infections to other cats but there is so far no evidence that humans can be in infected with COVID-19 via cats.
In this article, Eric Fevre (Professor of the veterinary infectious diseases at the University of Liverpool and jointly appointed at the International Livestock Research Institute) explains that to be infected by COVID-19, the virus must be able to get into respiratory tract cells, which requires matching surface proteins. Eric Fevre explains that "While species are susceptible to their own corona viruses, they cannot jump between species if the cell surfaces are different.
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Due to this misunderstanding a lot of strays have been killed by fearful citizens while pets are being sent to animal shelters and veterinarians for euthanizing. Hundreds of animals are becoming targets of frustration for many people as well as a source of fear due to people believing that they can spread the virus to humans. Because of this there are more cases of animal abuse popping up resulting in the loss of animals.
Please help raise awareness by sharing this article with people you know in order to prevent this dangerous misunderstanding from spreading any further You can also help animals by supporting our campaign 'Cage the Cruelty' by following the links below and following our pages to keep up to date with the situations surrounding animals.
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#AnimalCruelty #CageTheCruelty #AnimalSaviourJC
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Written by: Adam. L - 12th of June 2020
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References:
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Broom, F., 2020. Don’t panic, experts say after COVID-19 animal killings
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https://www.scidev.net/global/coronavirus/news/covid-19-animal-killings.html
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Lockett, J., 2020. China after fake news rumours are causing spread
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https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10863349/coronavirus-cats-and-dogs-thrown-to-death/
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Hodge, M., 2020. Coronavirus – China threatens to KILL dogs and cats if pet owners do not ‘deal with’ their animals amid panic over bug
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https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10869251/coronovirus-china-kill-dogs-pets/
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Lewis, E., 2020. Pets killed, abandoned in Lebanon due to false link to coronavirus
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