- A corgi was beaten to death in Shanghai over fears it might spread Covid.
- The corgi was reportedly killed on the street after its owners were transferred to a quarantine center.
- The incident stoked outrage among Shanghai residents who are facing an indefinite lockdown.
A corgi was beaten to death on the street in Shanghai over fears it could spread Covid, in another pandemic-related pet killing that has sparked outrage in China.
In graphic videos and photos widely shared on social media, the animal chases after a van before being killed by a man dressed in full PPE using a spade. On the Twitter-like platform Weibo, the hashtag "Shanghai corgi" has been viewed more than 52 million times.
The man was originally believed to be an epidemic prevention worker, but he was later identified as a gate guard working at a residential compound in Pudong New Area, where the corgi's owners lived, per Radio Free Asia.
According to the outlet, the guard said he killed the dog over fears that it could spread Covid, as its owners had tested positive for the disease. "We did not think about this comprehensively," an unnamed neighborhood committee representative said before adding that compensation would be paid to the owners.
According to the South China Morning Post, the dog's owners had tested positive for Covid and were being driven to a quarantine center in the van. The outlet said that the owners decided to let the corgi roam free because they were concerned the dog might starve if left at home.
The corgi ran after their owners for a while, but when the van left, the guard on duty took a spade and whacked the dog three times, killing it instantly. The corgi's yelps can be heard in the video.
The incident has stoked outrage in a city already frustrated by a strict and indefinite lockdown. Shanghai's 26 million residents cannot even leave their homes to buy groceries.
"The man is a monster. He wants to fight Covid, but who gave him the right to kill an innocent life?" one Weibo user commented.
This is also not the first time that pets have been killed over Covid fears.
Last month, a pet Samoyed named Snowball was brutally beaten with sticks by PPE-clad COVID-19 workers in Huizhou city in Guangdong province. In November last year, a woman in Shangrao city in Jiangxi province said city workers entered her home and beat her dog to death.
On Thursday, the city reported 20,398 asymptomatic cases and 824 symptomatic cases, according to the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.