犬や猫たち数百匹死ぬ、新型コロナで閉鎖のペット市場で　パキスタン

【カラチＡＦＰ＝時事】新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大を受けて、パキスタンの大都市でロックダウン（都市封鎖）が実施される中、急きょ閉鎖に追い込まれたペット市場内では、見捨てられ、おりに入れられたままの猫や犬、ウサギたち数百匹が死んだ状態で発見された。（写真はパキスタン・カラチの閉鎖されたペットショップの外に置かれたおりの中の猫に餌を与える店員）
　同国経済の中心都市カラチに広がる「エンプレスマーケット」の片隅で生き延びていた動物たちは、活動家らが当局に立ち入りの許可を嘆願した後、ようやく救出された。
　動物保護団体「ＡＣＦアニマル・レスキュー」のアイシャ・チュンドリガル代表によると、市場が閉鎖されて２週間が経過した頃、最大で１０００匹もの動物たちを収容していた複数の店舗の外にまで動物たちの悲鳴が聞こえていたという。
　チュンドリガル氏はＡＦＰに対し、「私たちが中に入ると、大半の動物たちが死んでいた。約７０％だ。動物たちの死骸は、地面に横たわっていた」「言葉にできないほど、本当に悲惨だった」と語った。
　おなかをすかせ、明かりも風通しもない中で、おりに閉じ込められながらも生き延びた動物たちは、死骸に囲まれた中で震え、座り込んでいたという。
　新型コロナウイルスの感染が世界規模で拡大する中、パキスタンでは主要都市が封鎖され、多くの店が閉鎖を余儀なくされた。食べ物や医薬品などの必要不可欠な商品を売る店だけが、営業の継続を認められた。
　封鎖により、ペットショップの店主らは営業を停止させられたものの、一部の店主は動物に餌を与えるため、夜間にこっそりと店へ通っている。
　絶望的な救出活動を経て、チュンドリガル氏は現在、カラチの当局に対し、ペットショップの店主や従業員らに日常的な店への立ち入りを許可するよう説得している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/04/08-13:33）

Abandoned when Pakistan's largest cities went into lockdown, hundreds of caged cats, dogs and rabbits have been found dead inside pet markets hurriedly shuttered as the coronavirus spread.
Animals still alive in the corner of Karachi's sprawling Empress Market were rescued only after activists appealed to the authorities for access.
Two weeks into the shutdown, Ayesha Chundrigar could hear the cries of the pets from outside the shops, which together housed up to 1,000 animals.
When we got inside, the majority of them were dead, about 70 percent. Their bodies were lying on the ground, Chundrigar, who runs ACF Animal Rescue, told AFP.
It was so horrific, I can't tell you.
Starving and locked in cages with no light or ventilation, the surviving pets sat amongst the dead, trembling.
As the virus pandemic grew, Pakistan's major cities were plunged into lockdown, forcing many shops to close. Only stalls selling essential goods such as food and medicine were allowed to continue operating.
It left pet shop owners blocked from their businesses, some resorting to sneaking in at night to feed the animals.
After the desperate rescue, Chundrigar has now convinced the Karachi authorities to allow pet shop owners and her team daily access to the animals.
- Dumped in a sewer -
In the eastern city of Lahore, animals met with a similar fate.
The bodies of about 20 dogs were found dumped in a sewer near Tollinton Market, a hub for pet businesses which had closed leaving animals to starve.
Kiran Maheen was able to rescue more than two dozen dogs, rabbits and cats after convincing officials at the market to let her in, but a large number had already died.
When the police opened up the shutters, a lot of animals were already lying dead inside, Maheen told AFP, adding that many had suffocated from a lack of air.
Pakistani authorities have confirmed about 2,900 cases of COVID-19 and 45 deaths, though the tally is thought to be many times larger because of testing limitations in this impoverished country of 215 million.
Around 25 percent of the population already live under the poverty line, but millions more who earn a daily wage have joined them since the lockdown began, experts say.