コロナで小動物大量殺処分、香港当局に怒りの声

【中国ＡＦＰ＝時事】香港のペットショップのハムスターが新型コロナウイルス検査で陽性反応を示したことから、小動物の大量殺処分が決定されたことを受けて、当局は１９日、怒りの声にさらされた。（写真は香港の動物管理センターに引き渡される、ハムスターの「マシュマロ」）
　香港は中国本土と同様、「ゼロコロナ」戦略を進めている。あるペットショップで販売されたハムスターと従業員が新型コロナウイルス検査で陽性反応を示し、香港では少なくなった変異株「デルタ株」への感染が判明したことを受けて、当局は１８日、ハムスターをはじめ、チンチラ、ウサギ、モルモットなどの小型哺乳類を「予防措置」として殺処分すると発表した。
　当局は、同店で販売されていた約１０００匹に加え、他のペットショップ数十店の約１０００匹のハムスターを処分する方針で、昨年のクリスマス直前の１２月２２日以降に小型哺乳類を購入した人に対し、対象となるペットを手放すよう「強く要請」している。
　公立動物管理センターの前にいた男性は１９日、ＡＦＰに対し、購入したばかりで「プディング」と名付けたハムスターの殺処分について、１０歳の息子が慰めようのないほど悲しんでいると語り、ピンク色のケージの前で泣く息子の動画を見せた。ただ男性は、同居している高齢の両親が心配だったとして、「政府がここまで深刻な問題としている以上、選択の余地はない」と話した。
　香港の動物愛好家は危機感を示し、オンライン署名サイト「チェンジ・ドット・オーグ」には、殺処分の中止を求める署名が１日足らずで２万３０００筆以上集まった。
　あるハムスター愛好家グループは、ハムスターを手放す必要があるかどうか、飼い主から２０件以上の相談を受けたという。
　今月１日にハムスターを購入したという女性は１９日、現地メディアに対し「ハムスターは誰にも渡さない、私を殺さない限り」と述べ、当局の方針に強く反発した。
　世界保健機関（ＷＨＯ）は、香港のハムスター殺処分に関する質問を受けた際、一部の動物が新型ウイルスに感染する可能性はあり、また動物から人間への伝染も起こり得るとの見解を示した。ＷＨＯのマリア・バンケルコフ氏は「リスクは依然低いとはいえ、それはわれわれが常に留意していることだ」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/01/20-11:13）

Hong Kong's government faced outrage Wednesday over its decision to cull thousands of small animals after hamsters in a pet store tested positive for Covid-19.
Like China, Hong Kong maintains a zero-Covid policy, stamping out the merest trace of the virus with contact tracing, mass testing, strict quarantines and prolonged social-distancing rules.
Their latest measures target hamsters and other small mammals -- including chinchillas, rabbits and guinea pigs -- which authorities on Tuesday said will be culled as a precautionary measure.
The move came after hamsters sold at the Little Boss pet shop, as well as an employee, tested positive for the Delta variant -- now rare in Hong Kong.
Officials dressed in full PPE gear carried red garbage bags marked with biohazard warnings out of the shop on Tuesday night.
Authorities strongly encouraged anyone who bought a small mammal after December 22 -- right before Christmas -- to give up their pet for culling.
Outside a government-run animal centre Wednesday, a man surnamed Hau told AFP his 10-year-old son was inconsolable about culling Pudding, a recently bought hamster, but that he was worried about the health of his elderly parents living in the same household.
I have no choice -- the government made it sound so serious, Hau told AFP, showing videos of his son wailing in front of Pudding's pink cage.
One hamster lovers' group said it received more than 20 inquiries about whether owners had to give up their furry friends.
Authorities said Tuesday the Covid-positive creatures were believed to be imported from the Netherlands, with Hong Kong's health secretary defending the move as part of precautionary measures against any vector of transmission -- despite a dearth of evidence showing animal-to-human transmission.
About 1,000 animals sold at Little Boss and another 1,000 hamsters in dozens of pet shops will be culled, authorities said.
The import of small mammals has also been halted.
- 'No one can take my hamster' -
Animal lovers across Hong Kong reacted with alarm: a Change.org petition garnered more than 23,000 signatures in less than a day, and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) denounced the decision.
The SPCA is shocked and concerned over the recent announcement about the handling of over 2,000 animals, it said in a statement sent to AFP Wednesday.
One owner -- who bought her pet on January 1 -- was defiant, pushing back on the government's cull.
No one can take my hamster away unless they kill me, she told local media outlet The Standard on Wednesday.
She recalled a recent birthday party attended by officials that resulted in multiple Covid infections and left Hong Kong's leadership redfaced.
Will they also kill all infected Covid-19 patients and their close contacts? the owner demanded.
If all people who attended the birthday party are culled then I will hand my hamster to the government.
A grim humour settled on Hong Kong-centric social media accounts, with netizens publishing illustrations of hamsters wearing surgical masks or facing off with the Grim Reaper.
The city's largest opposition party also waded into the controversy, saying the indiscriminate killing policy will only cause public resentment.
If cats, dogs or other animals get infected in the future, will they also be targeted for 'humane dispatch'? wrote Felix Chow, the animal rights spokesperson for The Democratic Party, on the group's official Facebook page.
- 'An unpopular decision' -
But the government's decision has some supporters.
Top microbiologist and government advisor Yuen Kwok-yung had praised the measure Tuesday as decisive and prudent.
On Wednesday he told local radio that his defence of the policy had earned him some emails telling me to go to hell.
Yuen said the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department did not have enough staff to quarantine hamsters and test them daily, so they had no choice but to make such an unpopular decision.
When questioned about Hong Kong's hamster cull, the World Health Organization said some animal species can be infected with the coronavirus, and animals can reinfect humans.
That risk remains low but it is something that we are constantly looking at, said the WHO's Maria Van Kerkhove.