Corgi killed by China's Covid health workers sparks outrage
The alleged killing of a dog whose owners were under quarantine has sparked outrage in China, igniting a flurry of discussions on animal welfare as the country grapples with a new wave of Covid-19 infections.
In a Weibo social media post that went viral on the weekend, a woman in Shangrao city, Jiangxi province, said she had been put under quarantine last Thursday night (Nov 11) after a Covid-19 case was detected in her neighbourhood.
Unable to take her pet corgi along, the woman, who had identified herself only as Ms Fu, left it at home with a note on her door telling health workers coming to sanitise the flat that her dog was on a leash and to let him stay at home.
But last Friday afternoon, health workers dressed in white protective outfits broke into her apartment armed with what appeared to be a crowbar to take her dog away but it resisted.
Footage from a webcam showed the dog hiding in a corner under a table, which the workers later removed in order to get hold of it.
Ms Fu watched via the webcam as they repeatedly struck the dog with the crowbar, despite her pleas through the camera's communication function. They told her that begging with them was futile because a superior had tasked them to "resolve" the issue of the dog.
After several blows to the head, the dog limped out of frame but can be heard whimpering in the background before going silent.
Ms Fu said its limp body was put into a yellow plastic bag and taken away.
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