Owners of a 3-year-old samoyed named Snowball have shared videos on Weibo of an anti-pandemic worker in the Guangdong Province beating Snowball to death with a bat while the they were undergoing hotel quarantine.  The owners also posted screenshots of their conversation with the 2 anti-pandemic workers in which she notified them of the dog’s presence before they came to disinfect her apartment. The owner also informed the workers that Snowball was not aggressive and would not bite.

Snowball’s death was confirmed in an official statement by the local Huizhou Propaganda Department, in which they acknowledged the cruel way in which the dog was killed and reported that the 2 workers responsible have been suspended from their posts. It has not been confirmed whether the dog was infected with COVID-19.  

Many other pet owners in Mainland China were outraged at the news and became distressed by the audio in the footage. This comes after a similar incident in November last year where a pet corgi was beaten to death in the Jiangxi Province.

 There are currently no animal cruelty laws in China and pet ownership is approached primarily as an urban management and public health problem. Many animal lovers in China have been shocked by animal-cruelty incidents in China and with an increase in the number of people who have dogs and cats as pets, animal welfare activists have been looking to increase protection for pets. A draft of a proposed animal protection law was circulated as an annual meeting of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, a decade ago, however, no laws have been enacted yet.

Courtesy of Michelle Cheung