Lately, there has been news spreading online claiming that pet owners are required to sign an undertaking that they will willingly, unconditionally, and immediately hand over the pet(s) that have been collectively quarantined together with their owners to the government for a bio-safety disposal if the owner tests positive for Covid-19 and promise that they will not seek any rights regarding this.
It stirred up an internet storm on Weibo right away. Some netizens called the Shanghai citizen hotline 12345 and local governments to check if this rumor was true. Here are the answers from them.
Will the pet(s) be required bio-safety disposal if the owner tests positive for Covid-19 or shows no symptoms?
A：Shanghai Changning Health Commission：
If the owner tests positive, pet(s) will be dealt with as per the regulations of imported cases from overseas and there is a possibility that they may require a bio-safety disposal.
A：Shanghai Citizen Hotline 12345:
There hasn’t been any nationwide Covid-19 policy for pets so far and it is up to the decisions of the local governments.
A：Shanghai Yangpu District:
It’s not under the control of the local Health Commission. It’s possible that the local street communities will handle the situation. There is no clear answer.
A： Shanghai Songjiang District:
A bio-safety disposal won’t be applied to the pet(s) even if the owner tests positive. The owner can take the pet(s) with him if he must be quarantined somewhere else.
There is no update from other districts regarding this matter. It is not hard to predict that cases of bio-safety disposal for pet(s) have already occurred.
What should pet owners do?
*Pics via SpareLeash