Coronavirus – Dogs poisoned to death after bogus report claimed pets can infect humans in Lebanon – The Sun

DOGS are being poisoned in Lebanon because of bogus claims pets can infect humans with coronavirus.

Footage shared widely on social media claims to show a hound convulsing as it dies in a vet's surgery surrounded by its heartbroken owners.

⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates

It is claimed by activists the animal, named Odin, was fed poisoned treats in the town of Bsalim located north east of Beirut.

Another video shows two dogs foaming at the mouth after allegedly being given a pesticide by a woman in the town of Mhaydseh, east of the capital.

Sun Online has chosen not to show the distressing footage.

PETS POISONED

Other images show pets, including cats, abandoned on the streets after a news report in the country falsely claimed animals could transmit the killer bug to humans.

The bogus report appeared on Murr Television, also known locally as MTV, discussing a case in Belgium where a house cat was struck down by coronavirus.

Health officials in Brussels confirmed that the animal had been infected by its owner and that there is zero evidence pets can transmit the virus to humans.

BOGUS CLAIMS

Yet, a doctor appeared on the Lebanese TV network and claimed that animals could “contaminate people”, it has been reported.

The World Health Organisation has previously made clear there is no evidence pets can infect humans after two dogs in Hong Kong became sick with the virus.

Pictures shared by blogger Gino Raidy claim to show some of the tainted food which is allegedly being given to pets in the Sursock area of the Lebanese capital.

Sevine Fakhoury, of Beirut animal rights group BETA, spoke of their horror at viewing the footage of the two dogs foaming at the mouth on the streets of Mhaydseh.

She told the Mail Online: “The dog video was a real shock.

“I immediately thought about the number of pet abandonment and the amount of work we would face in the future after the MTV report went out.

“Something we are never prepared for is the rise in numbers. The abandoned pets don't stand a chance on the streets as they are not used to fending for themselves.”

There are 463 confirmed cases of people being infected with COVID-19 in Lebanon while 12 have died in the country.

In February, officials in China rounded up pets family by family and executed them to stop the spread of coronavirus, activists claimed.

Community officers the southwestern Sichuan Province in China reportedly knocked on doors and ordered residents to give up their pets before slaughtering them.

Distressing video shared by Nanchong Missing Animal Aid Group shows a number of bloodied dogs, believed to be dead, lying in the back of the truck.

Another report earlier this month claimed hundreds of cats and dogs abandoned in the outbreak city of Wuhan were being ruthlessly executed by Chinese authorities.

Many of the starving pets were left alone in houses and apartments when their panicked owners hastily fled the virus-stricken community.

Source: Read Full Article