Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/free-shanghai-pets/

Residents of the Shanghai district of Pudong have been locked in their homes since March 28. What was initially planned to be a short-term effort to stop rising Covid infections has turned into home imprisonment for millions.

Amid panic and rising tensions, a health worker was seen beating a dog to death with a shovel.

As CNN reports, a video of the incident was recorded by a resident of a nearby building, and “shows a Covid prevention worker, dressed head to toe in protective gear, chasing the corgi down a street and hitting it three times with a shovel. It then shows the dog lying motionless.”

The clip has been posted and removed numerous times. Still images from the video show the corgi chasing a bus, which could have been taking its owner to an isolation facility. Images taken after the incident show the dog’s lifeless body being taken away in a plastic bag.

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A health worked in Shanghai killed a man’s Corgi while he was being taken to an isolation center.

According to state-run magazine China News Weekly, the corgi’s owner was in quarantine when the dog was killed. Worried that the animal would starve to death, the owner set the dog free outside before he was taken to an isolation center.

The employee later explained: “People are afraid of bacteria and transmission,”Infobae reports. “We haven’t thought it through. Our director told the owner that he would be compensated later.”

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The Corgi was chasing its owner’s bus when the health worker killed it with a shovel.

The Economic Times reported that the neighborhood committee had confessed to eliminating the animal for “fear of becoming infected”, admitting that it was a “thoughtless” act.

The following video shows the incident as recorded from a neighboring building. Be advised, it shows the brutal killing of an animal.

As CNBC reports, store closures and a strain on delivery workers have many concerned that they will not be able to find food for their pets, even after lockdown restrictions are eased. Veterinary care could also be hard to find, as many animal hospitals are closed.

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Video of the incident was taken from a nearby building.

The Chinese “Zero Covid” policy mandates mandatory daily testing, and requires healthcare agents to take Covid-19 patients and their close contacts to centralized quarantine facilities or the hospital.

There is little to no support for pets left behind.

While the residents of Shanghai are facing government oppression, there are grassroots efforts that are helping some pet owners get by. As Shine reports, Singapore native Joey Ang has volunteered her own time to create a network of communities on social media, representing different districts and neighborhoods Shanghai, where members can share their concerns and work out plans to get animals the help they need.

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The health worker allegedly said the act was “thoughtless.”

Ang also moderates the communities, helping advocate for animals through educational infographics.

This selfless work is appreciated by pet owners throughout Shanghai, but it will take more than infographics to end the oppression. The residents of Shanghai are being imprisoned in their own homes and systematically starved to death, while their animals are being killed. The U.S. Consulate in Shanghai has reported “extremely limited ability” to intervene in such cases. We must call on the United Nations to ensure this never happens again!

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Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog