"I am a confirmed patient of COVID-19 and am currently receiving treatment in the hospital. The community notified that my cat's nucleic acid test result was positive and he wanted to be euthanized. They have been with me for five or six years, so cute, they are my life." At around 12:00 on September 28, Ms. Ai (pseudonym), a confirmed case in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, sent a message of help to netizens through Weibo at the isolation hospital.
"My cat is gone." Late at night on September 28, Ms. Ai spoke again through Weibo, with the words full of pain and sadness.
Ms. Ai, who lives in Nangang District, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, is an authentic cat lover. She has three kittens at home, one of whom has been with her for five or six years, and the other two have lived with her for nearly four years. Ms. Ai often shares her life with three kittens on Weibo.
Recording the daily life of three little cuties through text, photos or videos has become a part of Ms. Ai's life. For Ms. Ai, the three kittens are family members, and Ms. Ai and the three kittens are like "a family of four". Ms. Ai took care of the three kittens with all her heart. She would write down in the memo, "Purchase cat food, not including corn and wheat." She reminded herself to buy cat food in time. She was willing to be a diligent shoveler. She often joked, "What bad intentions can cats have? Apart from pooping."
Ms. Ai always believed that the three kittens would accompany her for a long time. However, just after the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2021, Ms. Ai and her kitten had to face the separation.
On September 22, the Heilongjiang Provincial Health Commission issued an epidemic notice. From 0:00 to 12:00 on September 22, 2021, Heilongjiang Province added 5 new local confirmed cases of new coronavirus pneumonia. Ms. Ai's test result was positive after nucleic acid test, and she unfortunately became one of the confirmed cases. Ms. Ai’s community is adjusted to a medium-risk area and closed management is implemented. Ms. Ai was asked to be isolated and treated. In order to prevent the cat from starving, before leaving home, Ms. Ai prepared enough cat food and water, looking forward to a day of reunion with the cat.
Ms. Ai actively cooperated with the treatment in the isolation hospital while blaming herself. "Every patient does not want the people around him to be affected. What he hopes most is that everyone is safe and healthy. This feeling may only be understood by patients. We spend every day in guilt, helplessness, and even collapse. Whenever we hear that the places we have been to have been closed and managed, everyone will cry, but there is no way." Ms. Ai said that whenever she hears that her family is isolated because of herself, she feels very uncomfortable.
Other people's blame and even online violence made Ms. Ai unbearable, but what Ms. Ai couldn't accept was a phone call from community staff on September 27. Community staff told Ms. Ai that her three kittens had two nucleic acid tests and all of them were positive. Ms. Ai said: "The community called me and told me that the cat had a positive virus, which means there was no other way and that they would be euthanized." Ms. Ai said that the community staff asked her to write a consent form by hand.
Community staff said in an interview with the media that the nucleic acid test of cats was carried out by the epidemic prevention department, and they were made with anal swabs. There is currently a lack of professional treatments for animal infection, and it is recommended to euthanize them. On the afternoon of the 28th, community staff notified Ms. Ai that the disease control department would deal with the three cats. Community staff said that there is currently no institution for treating infected animals. "If the cat is not treated, the cat owner's living environment will always be positive. With a positive living environment, she will definitely not be able to come back to live, and their units and even the entire community cannot come back to live, so that the epidemic will never end." Community staff were also helpless. "We can also understand that a kitten that has been raising for several years is such a cute little life." At around 11:53 on the 28th, the anxious Ms. Ai asked netizens for help through Weibo. "I am a confirmed patient of COVID-19 and am currently in the hospital. The community notified that my cat's nucleic acid test result is positive and he needs to be euthanized. They have been with me for five or six years, so cute, they are my life." Ms. Ai said, why can't people be given a chance if they can be isolated and treated? After Ms. Ai’s request for help was posted on Weibo, she received attention and responses from many netizens. But at around 6:30 pm on the 28th, bad news came, because three cats who tested positive had been euthanized according to law. On the 29th, I called Ms. Ai’s community staff, but no one answered the phone. Ms. Ai also said that she is in poor condition and doesn’t want to say more.
Mr. Wang (pseudonym) is Ms. Ai's friend. Like Ms. Ai, he was unfortunately tested positive for nucleic acid a few days ago and is currently receiving treatment in the hospital. Mr. Wang said that Ms. Ai was still in extreme sorrow that her friends were comforting her. "I heard that the community staff also thought of many ways, and finally euthanized the cat, which was a helpless move." Mr. Wang said that after he was diagnosed, the epidemic prevention personnel also conducted nucleic acid tests on his pet dog, and thankfully the test result was negative.
Staff from Harbin Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that pets who have come into contact with confirmed cases are required to undergo nucleic acid testing.
Professor Wang Yefu of the School of Life Sciences of Wuhan University said that for animals that are euthanized, in order to prevent the virus from spreading further, the remains of the animal will be cremated in a timely manner.
Lawyer Chai Xin from Beijing Dacheng (Wuhan) Law Firm said that according to Article 42 of the "Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases", when an infectious disease breaks out or spreads, local people's governments at or above the county level shall immediately organize forces to prevent and control according to the prevention and control plan, and cut off the transmission of infectious diseases. If necessary, the following emergency measures may be taken and announced after the decision of the people's government at the next level: control or culling infected wild animals, livestock and poultry..
Lawyer Chai Xin believes that there is no legal problem in the local government taking emergency measures to perform euthanasia on cats. After all, animals will not wear masks like humans and will not honestly abide by epidemic prevention regulations. Once infected animals do not take compulsory measures in time, their range of activities is large, which is a great potential hidden danger for surrounding residents and other animals. At present, epidemic prevention agencies' epidemic prevention methods, treatment plans, and epidemic investigations after animals are in the early stages, and euthanasia is also helpless.