The video, which appears to have been filmed by a resident of a nearby building, shows a Covid prevention worker – dressed from head to toe in protective gear – chasing a corgi into a street and hitting it three times. with a shovel. He then shows the dog to be motionless. In two photos posted on the Internet, the corgi appears to be running after a bus allegedly transporting its owner to a seclusion facility. Another photo shows his body being removed in a plastic bag. The video and photos have been reposted and deleted by many users. CNN could not identify the original user who uploaded the video. The owner of the corgi was in quarantine at the time of the attack, according to the state-run China News Weekly, and had left the dog on the streets after failing to find anyone to care for the animal in his absence. All 25 million Shanghai residents are under lockdown until recently and are facing several rounds of mass testing. “In the end, I thought I could let (the corgi) relax outside to become a stray, at least he would not starve to death,” the owner wrote on an online group, explaining that he had not dog food at home, according to China News Weekly. “I never thought that from the moment we left, they would beat him to death.” He claimed that a neighborhood committee had refused to help care for the dog, the magazine reported. The commission said it was concerned the corgi might also have been infected. “At that time, the employees did not look into (the matter) very thoroughly. We will contact the owner and offer compensation later,” the commission said in response, according to China News Weekly. CNN has made several attempts to contact the committee. The incident spread widely on the Chinese social networking platform Weibo. A hashtag on the subject was viewed tens of millions of times before it was removed from the highly censored site. The video caused shock and anger, with many calling the dog’s murder cruel and unnecessary. International health authorities have said that the risk of transmission from animals to humans is possible but low and there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in the spread of Covid-19 in humans. And China’s National Health Commission has said that so far there is no evidence that humans have been infected with Covid by pets. “What is the use of compensation? This is a life,” said a popular Weibo post. “Pets are also a family,” wrote another user – a feeling echoed by many others. Some even expressed something that was once considered unthinkable within the country: that China’s battle with Covid Zero had gone too far.
“We would rather coexist with a virus”
Throughout the pandemic, China has pursued a Covid zero policy aimed at eliminating all clusters and transmission chains through border controls, mass testing, quarantine and strict restrictions. At times, he has resorted to extreme measures, including separating infected infants from their parents and banning residents from leaving their homes for weeks. This policy was widely popular, with many believing that it was necessary to avoid the high death tolls and economic collapse that occur in other countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom. This is not the first time a pet has been killed for fear of transmitting the virus. Three cats suffered the same fate last September and another corgi last November. At the time, however, reactions on social media were mixed – although some expressed sympathy and anger, others argued that killing the animals was necessary because of the pandemic. This time, the reaction seems very different, with most comments on the internet condemning the murder – perhaps a sign of the public’s less patience as living conditions deteriorate under lockdown. Many Shanghai residents have complained that they do not have access to basic supplies such as food and medicine. Cases of Covid-free patients with other emergencies who died before receiving medical attention have been reported. And those frustrations have only been exacerbated by mixed messages from the Shanghai government, which just two weeks ago insisted it had no plans for a lockdown across the city. For some, the death of the corgi was the last straw. A Weibo user mocked the neighborhood committee’s response: “Two years have passed and they still believe that (the corgi) has the virus. Aren’t these people from Earth? Another user said it more bluntly: “We would rather coexist with a virus than with this vicious and perverted person.”
